Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif has slammed the Indian captain Shreyas Iyer for his decision to give Shivam Dube the final over of the first innings in the just-concluded first T20I against Afghanistan, on Sunday, September 13, in Delhi.
Interestingly, Dube conceded 21 runs in the final as Afghanistan posted a good-looking total of 156/8 in 20 overs. The all-rounder conceded two fours and as many sixes. Speaking to Cricbuzz, Kaif launched a scathing attack on Iyer for his poor decision.
“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 added.
Delving into the details of the first T20I, Afghanistan was tasked to bat first, and they posted 156/8 in 20 overs. Azmatullah Omarzai was the top scorer with an unbeaten 64-run knock. Arshdeep Singh scalped a three-fer.
In the chase, India sealed the deal in 13.4 overs, winning the game by seven wickets. Abhishek Sharma was the wrecker-in-chief with an 82-run knock off 32 balls, with seven fours and as many sixes.
