India’s former opener Wasim Jaffer reckons the team needs to worry about the way they bowled in the death overs against Sri Lanka.
India conceded 80 runs in the final five overs as they were taken for plenty in the second T20I at Dharamshala on Saturday.
Harshal Patel took a beating as he conceded 52 runs in his quota of four overs. Patel was taken for 42 runs in his final two overs as Sri Lanka finished on a high. Furthermore, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ravindra Jadeja were also expensive in their respective spells as they conceded 36 and 37 runs in their quota of four overs.
Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka added the finishing touches for the tourists as he scored 47 runs off just 19 balls. The right-hander scored two fours and four sixes in his blistering knock.
Jaffer told ESPNCricinfo: “Till the 15th over, Indian bowling looked pretty much in control. (But) when Shanaka came in, he changed the complexion of the game. India need to worry a little about the way they bowled at the death. Yes, the conditions were cold and not ideal. But they still need to plan a little better next time.”
Jaffer feels that most of the balls in the death overs were bowled in the slot as Harshal Patel failed to hit the right areas and he was taken for runs by Dasun Shanaka.
“The lengths that were bowled at the death, most of them were in the slot, even the slower balls. It was very unlike Harshal (Patel), he doesn’t do that often. They’ll probably look to bowl slower bouncers (in the next game), let them (Sri Lanka) hit on the side of the ground rather than straight, which looked pretty small.”
On the other hand, Wasim Jaffer heaped praise on Yuzvendra Chahal, who had another good outing. The leg-spinner returned with an impressive figures of 1-27 in his quota of four overs.
“Chahal is definitely high on confidence, the way he is bowling for the last 6-8 months. On top of that, on such a small ground, bowling to the left-handers as well, he looked in complete control. He’s got a lot of variations. Six an over was an outstanding effort.”
The third T20I will be played on Sunday.
