India vs South Africa, T20 World Cup: Rahul’s selection despite repeated failures still a mystery as bowling takes a hit – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

As it turned out at Perth, once again, the fast bowlers ruled the roost as the batting on both sides, India and South Africa, had a fiery test, where the latter emerged winners, but just barely.

Suryakumar Yadav’s effort ensured that India had something to bowl at, after the South African pace battery, led by Lungu Ngidi, created havoc among the Indian batters.

The second inning wasn’t much different either, with Arshdeep Singh’s first over and the overall swing bowling making the rival battle look like amateurs for most of the time. But eventually, Aiden Markram and David Miller made a difference for South Africa. While the match was well-contested, the change in the Indian line-up was a little strange, and quite ineffective eventually.

The change, of bringing in Deepak Hooda instead of Axar Patel could be understood from one viewpoint – Patel hasn’t been useful with the bat and hasn’t bowled with much effect either.

But by that logic, even KL Rahul should have been benched. But some decisions stay a mystery, especially given that Rahul, once again, failed.

There was a school of thought that Rishabh Pant should be in for Rahul and open the inning with Rohit Sharma. There were also conjectures that Harshal Patel would be added to the line-up ahead of one of the spinners.

Furthermore, to restrict the bowling options was always going to have a negative effect, especially in a game where the batting was always going to be challenged. So, instead of a potential all-rounder, India went with a player whose bowling talents have not been used for a very long time indeed. Surely there was a case for another bowler. As it turned out, defending a poor 130-odd with one bowler less ended badly.

None of these happened and Hooda was called up.

One wonders how he felt about it. Here Hooda was, facing one of the most daunting fast bowling attacks in the world, trying not just to score runs for the team but also justify his inclusion in the squad. It was a little too much for him to handle as was evident.

Not that the rest of the batting was any different. The steep bounce in the Perth track wasn’t letting the batters get away with much and Rohit Sharma and Rahul struggled throughout, irrespective of the one six apiece from them.

Virat Kohli too was done in the bounce, but he can’t really be castigated, since if India are presently in a position where they would still not be too alarmed about their chances, it is thanks to him to a large extent.

Also, of course, to Yadav. Whatever the Indian selectors have done wrong in the recent past, Yadav’s inclusion in the Indian team has surely made up for much of that.

The manner in which he batted and handled the South African attack was something to see. Too bad there wasn’t enough to back him up.

Back to Hooda. There was a time, not too long ago, when he was on the A list of openers for India and did quite well too. But that was when Rahul was not in action. The moment the latter returned, Hooda was largely relegated to the bench.

Quite a pity, to lift a young cricketer so high and then drop him like a hot potato, only to be brought out against such a hostile attack in a game of this magnitude.

Why, is always a million-dollar question in Indian cricket. Why Pant isn’t playing has been discussed threadbare, as also what is Rahul’s situation. We would like to think that Hooda too needs some answers.

If India don’t need Axar Patel as a bowler, then he has little use in the XI, that is clear. But when you have more experienced batters like Pant in the dugout, why would Hooda be preferred is a very pertinent question.

Sure, Pant will struggle to find a place in the middle or lower order, since you cannot dismiss Dinesh Karthik on the basis of one game, where better batters struggled. But Rahul is a different case. He didn’t do well against Pakistan and even the Netherlands had his measure and Sunday was no different.

Surely it is a question that needs to be addressed – have the cricket authorities been too reticent about sending him to the bench? We’d like to say yes. Also, with the tournament reaching the business end, any such off-form inclusions can have a telling effect at the worst possible time.

It is a good thing that India still have opportunity and suitable opposition to garner enough points to make it through to the semi-finals. With all due respect to Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, the Indian team looks good to take on any side now.

But that said, surely there is need to address the bottlenecks in the side. And, as one wise man once said, most bottlenecks are at the top.