Shreyas Iyer justifies Pant's strategy to send Axar ahead of Dinesh Karthik in 2nd T20I amid criticism from legends

Pant's strategy to send Axar ahead of Karthik in the 2nd T20I has been immensely criticised by the legends of the game who believe the move to be one of the reasons behind India's loss in Cuttack

Captain Rishabh Pant's strategy to send bowling all-rounder Axar Patel ahead of Dinesh Karthik in the second T20I has been immensely criticised by the legends of the game who believe the move to be one of the reasons behind the Men in Blue's second consecutive loss in the series. However, Pant's teammate, Shreyas Iyer justified the call after India's four-wicket loss to South Africa at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Sunday.

Rishabh Pant; Shreyas Iyer

With India going four down in quick time which included the dismissals of Ishan Kisna, Pant and Hardik Pandya, Axar was sent in at No.5 with seven overs to go. The left-hander struggled to make an impact as he was dismissed for 10 off 11 by Anrich Nortje.

Karthik was sent at No.7 and he smashed an unbeaten 21-ball 30, laced with two sixes and as many boundaries. It helped India finish with 148 for 6.

Speaking to the press after the match, Iyer explained that India wanted someone to rotate strike and not a strike hitter after the dismissal of Hardik and hence Axar was sent ahead of Karthik.

“We had seven overs left and Axar is someone who can take singles and keep rotating the strike. We didn’t require someone to come in and start hitting straightaway from ball one at that point in time. DK can also do that, but he has been a really good asset for us after 15 overs, where he can straightaway slog the ball. Even he was finding it a little bit difficult at the start," he said.

Iyer, who scored a 35-ball 40, also spoke on the challenging Cuttack surface.

“It was really tough to be honest. I played 35 balls and I really wasn’t able to identify how the wicket was going to play. I was trying to time the ball as well, I actually tried everything out there. But still, it was really difficult, especially for the new batsman to come in and get going," he said.

“We could have spent a little more time up the order to try and gauge how the wicket was playing. At the same time, you need to keep the scoreboard ticking. 160 could have been a really good score to put them under a little bit of pressure.”

With 0-2 down in the sreies, the third tie against South Africa, in Vishakhapatnam, will be a do-or-die match for India.