Star Indian batter Ajinkya Rahane questioned captain Shubman Gill’s decision to use only 12 overs of spin during the third ODI against New Zealand at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Sunday, January 18 as well. Both Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja bowled only six overs each as New Zealand smashed 337-8 after being put into bat first in the final match.
“Personally, I think Shubman missed a trick by bowling only three overs of Kuldeep in the middle overs, and then he was waiting till the 37th-38th over. Even Jadeja being held back till the 30th over, those are the guys who can get you the wickets. That is where India went slightly wrong,” Ajinkya Rahane said on Cricbuzz.
“More than Kuldeep, it is Ravindra Jadeja’s inclusion in the bowling attack very late that was the problem. Maybe the thought was to give Nitish Reddy a bit more game time and overs under his belt in a match situation, but because of that, you get a bit hamstrung with your options. If you bring your second spinner at over number 30, then you pretty much know that he is not going to complete his quota of overs,” Zaheer Khan said.
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However, Ajinkya Rahane applauded Shubman Gill for believing in Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh with the new ball and bringing Mohammed Siraj on later as well. Team India also brought in the left-arm pace bowler Prasidh Krishna as well.
“It was the perfect plan (to start with Harshit and Arshdeep with the new ball), Arshdeep can swing the ball both ways and Harshit has been doing really well. Siraj can adapt, he can bowl with the new ball, he can be the first change and bowl with the old ball as well,” Rahane said.
“From the captain’s point of view, you have to read the phases of the game, you have to bring your spinners early, especially when bowling first. If you can get the spinner on after 10 overs, just to see if there is any purchase off the wicket, you can anytime stop the spell and bring him later,” Ajinkya Rahane concluded.
