Former Indian World Cup winner Zaheer Khan heaped praise on Indian skipper Rohit Sharma and the team management for their brave decision to bowl young leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi in the crucial 2nd Super Over of the tightly-contested match in Bangalore.
The final T20I in Bengaluru ended in a Super Over after both teams scored 212 runs in the 20 overs. The first Super Over also ended in a tie with both teams scoring 16 runs, but Bishnoi won the game for the Men in Blue by defending 11 runs in the second Super Over as he dismissed the Afghan batter to seal the deal for the Indian team.
Speaking on Colors Cineplex after the game, Zaheer Khan believes that the Indian team made a wise decision to trust their instincts and delegate responsibility to young Ravi Bishnoi and that the Men in Blue started brilliantly with the bat in the second over before losing back-to-back wickets.
“I believe it was a smart and brave decision because you don’t have that much time in these situations. You have to back your instincts and thinking. So whoever was part of that think-tank, you need to praise them for sure.”
“The second Super Over started very well, (India) started with a six. So it seemed like India would bat Afghanistan out, but that didn’t happen. They lost two wickets and didn’t even play the entire six balls,” Zaheer Khan said.
Rohit Sharma made a bold decision by handing the ball to spinner Ravi Bishnoi, who had figures of 4-0-38-0 in the second innings. Bishnoi repaid the faith by bowling brilliantly, getting wickets on the first and third balls, and giving only a single in the process to help India win the game.
Ravi Bishnoi Was Oozing Confidence And Was Looking Extremely Calm – Zaheer Khan
Zaheer Khan lauded Ravi Bishnoi for delivering a match-winning performance under pressure, citing the difficulty of defending 11 runs in the Super Over.
“After that, you had to take a big decision, about who would bowl. So that decision was taken very well because batters generally score 12 runs easily as the bowler makes mistakes due to the pressure on him.”
“Ravi Bishnoi came there and the way he started and picked up two wickets, you need to praise him as well, because he was bowling under pressure in a Super Over. He was oozing confidence. He was looking extremely calm. So that was one very good thing and secondly, the entire think-tank for taking that decision,” Zaheer Khan added.
Ravi Bishnoi’s approach was to keep a stump-to-stump line and pitch the ball back of a length. Mohammad Nabi was caught at long-off by Rinku Singh on the opening delivery, and Rahmanullah Gurbaz was caught in the same position to secure India’s victory.
