Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has slammed the Indian team think-tank for not making the most out of the talent and explosiveness of Rishabh Pant during the Men’s T20 World Cup.
Pant, the left-handed batter, was picked for the semifinal against England ahead of Dinesh Karthik due to his ability to take down spinners in the middle overs. But India was unable to match up Pant with England’s spinners, Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone, as captain Jos Buttler finished their overs quickly before the left-handed batter arrived at the crease in the 19th over.
“How they have not maximized someone like Rishabh Pant is incredible. In this era, put him up to the top to launch it. I’m just staggered by how they play T20 cricket for the talent they have.
“They have the players, but just do not have the right process in place. They have to go for it. Why do they give the opposition bowlers the first five overs to bed in?,” wrote Vaughan in his column for ‘The Telegraph’ on Friday.
Vaughan was also angry with India not having many all-rounders in the side, a feature which was there in the Indian teams of the past. “How have they only got five bowling options when you think 10 or 15 years ago all of India’s top six could bowl a little bit – Sachin Tendulkar, Suresh Raina, Virender Sehwag, and even Sourav Ganguly?”
He was baffled with leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal not getting a single game in the tournament despite conditions in Australia favoring wrist-spinners to excel.
“None of the batsmen bowl so the captain has only got five options. We know in T20 cricket the stats tell you a team needs a spinner who can turn it both ways. India have plenty of leg spinners. Where are they?”
India dearly felt the absence of Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja as Jos Buttler and Alex Hales raced to chase down 169 with four overs to spare, ending unbeaten at 80 and 86 respectively. Vaughan was heavily critical of India’s tactics against Buttler and Hales at the start of the innings.
“They have a left arm in Arshdeep Singh who swings it back into the right-handers. So what do they do defending 168? They put on Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s bowling outswing to give Jos Buttler and Alex Hales width.
“Where is the left-arm seamer swinging it into Buttler and Hales in the first over? Madness. Cramp them for the room. Do not give them a chance to get off to a flyer in the first over and settle nerves.”
