IND vs SA 2022: India should replace Axar Patel with Ravi Bishnoi – Wasim Jaffer

Former Indian domestic giant Wasim Jaffer wants Team India to replace Axar Patel with Ravi Bishnoi in the third T20I against South Africa. Patel returned with expensive figures of 1-40 in his four overs in the first T20I at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi.

Furthermore, the left-arm orthodox spinner conceded 19 runs in the solitary over he bowled in the second T20I at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack. Thus, Patel, who is known for his accuracy, hasn’t been able to stop the flow of runs.

On the other hand, Yuzvendra Chahal had finished as the highest wicket-taker of the recently concluded IPL 2022 as he had claimed 27 wickets in 17 matches for Rajasthan Royals. But the leg-spinner has failed to repeat the same performances in the ongoing T20I series against South Africa. Chahal conceded 49 runs in his quota of four overs in the second T20I.

Wasim Jaffer said while talking to ESPN Cricinfo, “Yuzvendra Chahal, how well he bowled in the IPL, won the purple cap too – we haven’t seen that form in these two matches. The spinners’ role in T20 cricket is very important. If you (as a team) don’t put pressure and get wickets in the middle-overs, you end up conceding 70-80 runs in the last five overs and that’s what we’ve been seeing here.

“Axar Patel hasn’t been able to bowl economically and is being attacked so I’ll personally want them to try Ravi Bishnoi because a leg-spinner will give you better options.”

In fact, it should be noted that Ravi Bishnoi has impressed with his skills but he hasn’t been in the best of forms in the recent past. The leg-spinner took 13 wickets in 14 matches for Lucknow Super Giants at an average of 35.07 and an economy rate of 8.44 in IPL 2022.

Jaffer wants Yuzvendra Chahal and Hardik Pandya to perform better in the remaining three matches. Both of these players were in prolific form in the IPL but haven’t done a great job thus far in the T20I series.

“I’ll want Yuzvendra Chahal to perform better as well. The performance we saw from Hardik Pandya in the IPL final, we haven’t seen it here either. He bowled just one over in the first match and was a bit expensive [in the second].

“The brilliant new-ball bowling by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh, and even Harshal Patel isn’t being backed up by the spinners and the … fourth seamer. That’s where I think there’s a dire need for improvement.”

The third T20I between India and South Africa will be played at Vizag on Tuesday.