It’s rare to see Washington Sundar involved in a heated exchange with an opposition player during a game. So, when the typically calm and composed off-spinner lost his temper at the Proteas batter David Miller, it reflected the mounting frustration within the camp as India’s hopes of defending their T20 World Cup crown suffered a setback after crashing to a heavy 76-run defeat against South Africa in their Super 8 clash, at the Narendra Modi Stadium, on Sunday.
Beyond the heavy loss, what will sting the Men in Blue even more is their net run-rate, which has plummeted to -3.8. Suryakumar Yadav and his side must now register commanding victories in their remaining two matches against Zimbabwe and the West Indies to keep their semi-final hopes alive.
The Indian team management’s decision to include Washington ahead of vice-captain Axar Patel proved to be a tactical blunder. The off-spinner bowled just two overs, conceding 17 runs without claiming a wicket. He was also promoted to No. 5 in the batting order ahead of Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube and Rinku Singh, but managed only 11 runs off 11 balls, including a six off Keshav Maharaj.
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Washington was brought into the attack in the seventh over and immediately conceded 11 runs to Dewald Brevis and David Miller. Reintroduced in the 14th over, he gave away another six before being taken off for the remainder of the innings.
At the toss, captain Suryakumar Yadav explained that his inclusion was a tactical move, considering South Africa had three left-handers in their top five. However, assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate later acknowledged that the call did not work as intended.
“We spent a lot of time deliberating about the XI over the last couple of days. I guess the only way it didn’t play into our hands was if we decided to bat first like we did today, to give Washington a run,” the assistant coach said in the post-match press conference.
He further explained, “We were looking more at match-ups in the middle. Obviously, someone has to make way. Do we leave a batter out and bring another bowler in? Playing it forward and making decisions at the time, we felt we needed Rinku to deepen the batting. The decision was based around that. It’s certainly not to take anything away from Axar and his leadership and how important he is to the team. We’ll look at that spot over the next two games.”
Axar has consistently delivered as a wicket-taking option and is also a powerful lower-order batter. Axar’s absence in the crucial Super 8 contest against South Africa in his home venue appeared both surprising and significant.
As things stand, the Men in Blue will need to quickly regroup ahead of their next Super 8 clash against Zimbabwe, in Chennai, on February 26. It remains to be seen whether the Indian team management will recall the dependable Axar to the playing XI for the must-win encounter at Chepauk.
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