Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: India must stop overthinking match-ups and urgently return to selecting their best XI if they are to keep their T20 World Cup campaign alive, according to former Australia captain Ricky Ponting.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Following India’s crushing 76-run defeat to South Africa in the Super 8 stage, Ponting issued a blunt assessment ahead of their must-win clash against Zimbabwe in Chennai, urging the team management to simplify their approach.
“Listening to the commentary, the reason Axar didn’t play is because of the left-handers in the opposition side. But there’s still some right-handers there. It just comes down to the art of the captain of being able to use Axar at the right time,” Ponting said on The ICC Review.India’s decision to leave out Axar Patel raised eyebrows, especially with spin expected to play a major role on Indian surfaces. Ponting stressed that team balance must take priority over tactical match-up theories.“I would be going back to the basics. I’d be just looking at their lineup. Who’s our best XI for the conditions in Chennai?” he said.Ponting also threw his support behind bringing back wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav, highlighting his ability to trouble all batters regardless of match-ups.“If it has Kuldeep Yadav in it, that’s the other one that I’d be thinking about bringing back because it doesn’t matter with him if it’s left-hand or right-hand. He can bowl wrong ones and spin the ball away from the outside edge.”Former India coach Ravi Shastri echoed similar views, insisting that experience and bowling depth were critical at this stage.“They have to bring him back. You need that experience,” Shastri said of Axar. “What you’re missing out on is that you’re not giving yourself that extra option of a bowler, which I think is important.”With their semi-final hopes hanging by a thread, India now face a simple but urgent task — pick their strongest XI and deliver immediately.
