Former Indian wicket-keeper bat Saba Karim has slammed Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy after India suffered a 56-run loss against England in the fifth T20I at Rose Bowl, Southampton on Saturday. Karim questioned Iyer for giving the 19th over to batting all-rounder Shivam Dube.
While Dube picked two wickets of Jos Buttler and Jacob Bethell, he conceded 22 runs in the penultimate over of the innings. England went on to post a mammoth total of 257 runs on the board, which was an above-par score.
Jos Buttler was the star of the show for England as he scored 131 runs whereas Harry Brook continued his rich form to score a brilliant knock of 95 runs. Karim also questioned Iyer for giving three overs to Arshdeep Singh in the Powerplay.
“It was okay thus far, but I saw one or two tactical errors in the way he used his bowling resources today (Saturday). I agree that the bowling wasn’t that good, but when to use which bowler, I felt he was seen slightly lacking there,” Saba Karim said on JioHotstar.
“One was bowling Arshdeep three overs with the new ball. You didn’t save the main bowlers’ spell properly. How can Shivam Dube bowl the 19th over for you? That over proved extremely expensive. It means you didn’t captain shrewdly. You didn’t use your resources properly, and that will remain a slight area of concern for Shreyas Iyer,” he added.
Karim also questioned Iyer for reintroducing Axar Patel into the attack despite the spinner being expensive.
“Then you gave an over to Suryansh Shedge. He had conceded only three runs and should have been bowled a second over. You introduced Axar Patel there. You knew both batters were trying to hit big shots against Axar Patel,” he said.
Axar Patel was taken for 25 runs in the 10th over of the innings, which shifted the momentum towards England.
“A six had been hit off the last ball of his previous over. That over proved to be the turning point in a way, to provide the momentum to England, because I think the batters hit two sixes and a four in that over,” Saba observed.
India and England will next take on each other in a three-match ODI series, starting Tuesday at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
