India started off the South Africa series with a failing performance which was doubted by millions of Indian fans which also including some ex-cricketers who wondered if Pandya’s guidance could have changed the game.
India, no doubt, went with the gut feeling of Rishabh Pant who recently has acquired more international experience than the preferred choice – Hardik Pandya. Hardik had been unavailable for the past few months but the recent comeback as the captain of IPL franchisee Gujarat Titans.
Hardik not only performed but also guided Gujarat Titans for their maiden IPL win while Rishabh Pant’s “DRS thoughts” changed the fate of Delhi Capitals, who could not qualify for the top 4 in the playoffs.
BCCI at the start of the series announced experienced player KL Rahul as the captain for team India as the senior players were confirmed for a break before they got set for the England tour which is going to commence at the start of July.
The unfortunate injury of KL Rahul forced BCCI to send the veteran to Germany for recovery while BCCI officials had to announce the new skipper.
Dinesh Karthik had a better performance as a player than being the captain of KKR and the sudden comeback in team India was itself a pressure for the 37-year-old. The consideration of the new skipper was between Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant.
While Hardik was the recent champion of IPL, BCCI’s thought of more game experience ultimately made Rishabh Pant the skipper.
While the start was a failure, the last two games have been a magical moment for the home side as the backup batsman DK and Hardik Pandya have made it possible to boost team India’s batting performance from the end while the bowling unit has recovered from getting smashed over 200 runs to bowling the South Africans all out in just 87 runs.
Can skipper Rishabh Pant make his maiden series win possible tonight?
