Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif questioned Shreyas Iyer’s tactics after India won the first T20I against Afghanistan by seven wickets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on Sunday. Iyer gave the final over to Shivam Dube, who conceded 21 runs.
Dube was bowling his first over of the day and could not hit the right areas. He was hit for two sixes by all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai whereas Noor Ahmad smashed two fours.
Thus, Afghanistan was able to post a fighting total of 156 runs on the board after a sluggish start.
“There is a time and place when these part-timers are used. If you want to bring them, bring them earlier, like close to the 10-over mark, when five wickets are already down, and Omarzai and Nabi were new at the crease. You should bring part-timers there. So, you have to decide who to use where. You have played part-timers, not proper all-rounders,” Mohammad Kaif said on Cricbuzz.
“These bowlers don’t even bowl 3 overs for their IPL franchises. When have we seen Dube bowl in the IPL? He doesn’t bowl. So, I think giving him the 20th over is a big mistake. The last over is usually bowled by Bumrah or Arshdeep Singh. Here, the one facing the last over was Omarzai, who was already set after scoring his fifty. You are using Dube against him, so I think there must have been some mistake in the calculations. This was not a match where seven bowlers needed to be used. Five bowlers were enough,” he continued.
Afghanistan was reeling at 43-5 at one stage as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals and former Indian fast bowler Mohit Sharma said India should have bowled out the hosts for under 100.
“They should have been bowled out for 100, but we also have to consider that the other team has also come to play, and they batted well. The five-bowler plan is a double-edged sword, because will you bring the part-timer at that phase or try to attack? You never know, there are two senior players, and they can stitch a partnership. I think you should at least have five proper bowlers in the playing XI,” Mohit Sharma stated.
The second T20I between India and Afghanistan will be played on Tuesday in Delhi.
