‘Suryakumar Yadav let it go to waste’ – Basit Ali slams Indian captain for his bad decision making against South Africa

Former Pakistani batter Basit Ali has slammed India's T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav for his lackluster captaincy during the 2nd T20I match. South Africa scampered home to a 3-wicket win with an over to spare to level the series. Indian spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi were the best players for the team as they broke the back of South African batting during their chase. 

Basit Ali said “Axar Patel bowled just one over, in which he gave away just two runs. Suryakumar Yadav didn’t ask him to bowl again. I was really surprised. South Africa won with just one over to spare. Axar Should have bowled when Surya brought Pandya back. He bowled three wide balls and the momentum shifted”

At one stage it looked like India were the firm favourite to win the game and take a 2-0 lead in the series. Varun Chakravarthy did well with the ball as he registered his maiden fifer in the shortest format of the game. It was baffling decision-making by Suryakumar Yadav to deny Axar Patel a longer spell that could have turned the fortunes in India’s favour. 

Basit Ali questions India’s decision-making during South African innings

Speaking on his YouTube channel, former Pakistan batter Basit Ali said “Aisa lag raha tha India yeh match nahi harega. Bad captaincy by Suryakumar Yadav he didn’t know the South African batters were facing problems in playing the spinners and he didn’t ask Axar to bowl. He bowled Avesh Khan who was hit for two fours. After 124, the spell that Varun Chakravarthy bowled, Suryakumar Yadav’s captaincy let it go to waste”

Veteran spinner and hero from the Gqeberha, Varun Chakravarthy credited his time with KKR and Gautam Gambhir for his India recall. The 33-year-old said “Definitely, the last three years were a little tough. The only thing I could do was play lots of cricket. And I started playing a lot in the domestic league (TNPL) in India. And that definitely helped me understand my game better. And that’s what helped me."

Varun Chakravarthy also spoke about the role Gautam Gambhir played in his return to the team. “Yes, we played the Bangladesh tour and he was coaching the team. And definitely, we spoke a lot and he gave me a lot of role clarity. He told me, even if you go for 30-40 runs, it doesn’t matter. All you have to look is to pick wickets. So that’s your role in the team. And yeah, the clarity which they gave definitely helped me."