Cricket News: On their comeback to the international competition on Thursday, Team India was defeated by South Africa by seven wickets in the first of five Twenty20 Internationals. India, headed by Rishabh Pant, failed to defend a 212-run target at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, as Rassie van der Dussen and David Miller hammered the bowlers all over the field. Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik made their comebacks to the Indian playing XI for this match.
While Hardik hit an undefeated 31 in the Indian innings, Dinesh Karthik stepped in to bat with five balls remaining and remained unbeaten on 1 off 2 balls. Karthik arrived on the heels of a stellar performance in the Indian Premier League, in which he hit 330 runs in 16 innings at an incredible strike rate of 183.33.
Gautam Gambhir, the former Indian opener, was asked after the game if he wanted to see a change in the Indian team for the next T20I at Cuttack. While Gambhir stated that he would select the same lineup as Karthik, he also stated that India might have chosen to play Deepak Hooda instead of Karthik.
“Now that you have played Dinesh Karthik, you will continue with him. But I still feel you could have played Deepak Hooda, with the form he was in. Also, he is a youngster. But in the next matches, I don’t think any changes are required to be done unless the wicket is extremely dry,” said Gambhir.
Ravi Bishnoi, according to the former Indian batter, could earn a nod in dry circumstances.
“In that case, you can probably sit out a seamer and play the leg-spinner in Bishnoi and Hardik can be your third seamer. You will have two wrist-spinners as attacking options but if the ground is small and there is not much spin in the wicket, then you will probably see the same team,” said Gambhir.
