Zaheer Khan; former India’s best fast bolwer on Rohit Shara’s captaincy. South Africa beat India by 5 wickets in the Super 12 match of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Sunday, October 30. India won the toss and opted to bat first. The Men in Blue lost early wickets before Suryakumar Yadav’s quickfire knock of 68 runs off 40 balls propelled them to 133 for nine wickets in 20 overs.
After a close loss against South Africa in the T20 World Cup 2022, the Indian side were under scrutiny especially skipper Rohit Sharma whose captaincy was questioned by many, recently by former Indian pacer Zaheer Khan.
The left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh bowled a dream spell with the new ball, dismissing inform batsmen Quinton de Kock and Rilee Rossouw early. David Miller and Aiden Markram added 76 runs for the third wicket helped chase down the total with two balls to spare.
Zaheer Khan, a member of the 2011 World Cup-winning Indian cricket team and one of India’s best fast bowlers, opened up about Rohit Sharma’s leadership after the loss to South Africa. Speaking about India’s narrow defeat, Zaheer Khan said that he failed to utilize his resources, which allowed South Africa to come back in the match.
Zaheer Khan: Rohit Not Able to Use His Resources
“You got the game to that level from where you got to just finish it. So, I am 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 in the play and they went on to win the match. That is something that you need to look into. It is about confidence in certain bowlers,” Zaheer Khan said in a video on Cricbuzz.
“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 three overs at the top, but he (Rohit) felt that who is going to take care of the backend. There are certain factors which are still not comfortable,” he added.
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 by five wickets.
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.
India is currently second in the Group 2 points table with four points. The Rohit Sharma-led team have played three matches, winning two and losing one. Team India will take on Bangladesh in Adelaide on Wednesday, November 2.
