‘Rohit was maybe not able to use his resources or he’s kind of stuck’: Zaheer Khan on Rohit Sharma’s captaincy
India lost a close encounter against South Africa to suffer their 1st defeat of the 2022 T20 World Cup. While dissecting Rohit Sharma’s captaincy performance, Zaheer Khan said on a Cricbuzz show, “You got the game to that level from where you got to just finish it. So I’m disappointed with that. Rest of the things (are) fine. You know what you did? Leading up to that didn’t matter, you made the game out of it. And from there, you let South Africa come into play and they went on to win the match.”
Zaheer further said, “10 overs and 94 to get. You created panic in the South African side as they were relying on Miller and Markram’s partnership. That mark where you have got South Africa thinking that okay, everything has to go your way. Fielding, catching, everything has to go your way along with the bowling. So I think that’s where India missed the trick. You got the game to that level from that you got to just finish it. So I’m disappointed with that.
Arshdeep Singh celebrates with the rest of his India teammates after picking a wicket in his first over against South Africa. (Photo: BCCI)
It felt like that to a certain degree that Rohit was maybe not able to use his resources or he’s kind of stuck with using a particular bowler in a particular position. Arshdeep could have bowled 3 overs at the top, but he (Rohit) felt that who is going to take care of the backend.”
India won the toss, opted to bat first and South African bowlers were on their mark restricting them to 133 for nine at the end of 20 overs. When South Africa came out to bat, they were 40 for three and needed 94 in last 10 overs. The bowlers were hitting the lens getting that purchase from the wicket and yet the result is South Africa winning five wickets.
Elaborating further on India’s makes, Ajay Jadeja said, “Your best chance I mean, what was the total on the board. That was definitely short but once the game had started, you got those two wickets to start with. So as a captain and as a team, you carry people who are having bad days and you know let the man lead who’s having a good day. And when he (Arshdeep) came back to bowl the game was already gone.”
Arshdeep Singh, the lion-hearted left-armer, did bowl another dream first spell but Aiden Markram (52 off 41 balls) and David Miller (59 not out off 46 balls), one of the best T20 finishers in the game, ensured the target was achieved in 19.4 overs.
