India Playing XI vs Zimbabwe: Gavaskar suggested playing XI against Zimbabwe, how will Akshar Patel fit

New Delhi. There is a lot of discussion about not including India’s all-rounder Akshar Patel in the playing eleven in the Super 8 match of the T20 World Cup against South Africa. In this match, India had to face defeat by 76 runs, while Washington Sundar, who played in place of Akshar, could not perform well with both bat and ball. Before the next match against Zimbabwe, India’s legendary captain Sunil Gavaskar clearly said that Axar Patel should be brought back in the playing eleven. He suggested that he could replace fast bowler Arshdeep Singh.

Gavaskar said on Geostar, “I would think about bringing Axar Patel back into the playing eleven, especially keeping in mind that Zimbabwe does not have many left-handed batsmen in the team. You can bring him in place of Arshdeep Singh. Arshdeep bowled very well against South Africa and you do not want to change a player who is in such good form. So maybe the team does not make any changes and goes with the same team.”

India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate and batting coach Sitanshu Kotak said that this decision was taken purely for strategic reasons. He said in the post-match press conference, “Yes, in the last few days we discussed a lot about the playing eleven. We were looking more at the match-ups in the middle overs. Now looking back, it seems that playing Akshar would have been the right decision, but at that time we felt that we needed Rinku as the eighth batsman. The decision was taken around this.”

He repeatedly stressed that this decision does not raise questions about Akshar’s importance in the team or his role as vice-captain. Ten Doeschate said, “This is in no way to underestimate Akshar and his leadership or his importance to the team.”