Former Indian opener, Wasim Jaffer has said that he is surprised at stand-in skipper, Hardik Pandya’s decision of giving the ball to an inexperienced Shivam Mavi in the slog overs and not taking the initiative himself despite having two more overs in his quota in the second T20I at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Thursday, January 5.
At the same time, Wasim Jaffer also wondered why Hardik also decided not to go with the emerging left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh after his two overs as the tall speedster had bowled five no-balls in the contest. Surprisingly, Arshdeep had bowled a hat-trick of front-foot no balls.
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During a chat with ESPNCricinfo, Hardik Pandya said, “I expected Hardik to bowl instead of Mavi in the death. Mavi hasn’t got a reputation of bowling well in the death. Hardik had that experience. I thought he would have bowled that 20th over. I was surprised, I thought he’ll come in and bowl after the sixth over. He’ll probably bowl one or two overs in the middle overs and then bowl in the death. Also, just giving two overs to Arshdeep, Hardik got it wrong there.”
Furthermore, Wasim Jaffer also criticized the decision of Hardik Pandya for going with Shivam Mavi who had done exceptionally well in the series opener in Mumbai finishing with match-winning bowling figures of 4/22 from his four overs at an economy of 5.5 on his international debut.
Wasim Jaffer explained, “Since Shivam Mavi did so well in the first game, why didn’t he bowl with the new ball? You could probably give Arshdeep the third or fourth over. Still unacceptable what Arshdeep did. But I think Hardik should have trusted Mavi.”
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Shivam Mavi had an ordinary day in the second T20I as he not only went wicketless but also went on to concede as many as 53 runs at a dismal economy rate of 13.25. Sri Lanka eventually ended up with a 16-run win to level the series 1-1. The third and final T20I will be played in Rajkot on Saturday, January 7.
