CUTTACK: Just as Rishabh Pant-led Team India entered the Barabati Stadium turf late on Saturday afternoon for their practice session ahead of the second T20I, the setting sun sneaked through the overcast conditions. Trailing 0-1 in the five-match series after losing the first game in charge despite a record score of 211, the stand-in skipper didn’t have the best start in front of his home crowd in New Delhi.
With the new-look bowling department coming a cropper against an in-form South Africa batting line-up, especially the duo of David Miller and Rassie van der Dussen, Pant will hope to leave the ground with a smile on his face on Sunday night. But for that to happen, they need to get their act together in the bowling department, led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the absence of the likes of Bumrah and Shami.
Bhuvi has his task cut out as the senior pro in the bowling unit which comprises youngsters like Avesh Khan, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi besides Harshal Patel, Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal. Bhuvi is quite aware of his role as a leader of the young lot.
“Yes, in absence of them (Shami, Bumrah), I try to take up responsibility, focus on improving in every match before going to the T20 World Cup,” said the seamer.
“As a bowling unit, we had an off day but that’s okay. We just want to come back in the next match. We are aware that we didn’t bowl well in the first match. So we hope to improve, bowl well and level the series. We still have four matches to go,” Bhuvneshwar said.
Bhuvi himself didn’t have a good game at Kotla. The bowlers’ inability to defend 211 will make the team management and the captain wonder whether to go for a couple of changes as IPL finds Umran and Arshdeep are waiting in the wings.
Bhuvi bypassed the query with a cheeky smile, saying, “Coach and captain are better positioned to answer this question.” However, the bowlers will have to keep the trio of Miller, Dussen and Quinton de Kock – who also had a great IPL but couldn’t convert the start in the first T20 – under check.
It’s too early to assess his ability as a skipper but Pant’s decision to not bowl IPL purple cap holder Chahal his full quota has already raised eyebrows. However, Bhuvi backed Pant, saying, “He’s a young captain and it was his first match. I’m sure he will try to do better and improve as the series progresses. Generally the captain is as good as the team.”
Putting the blame for the loss on the bowling attack, Bhuvneshwar said, “Our bowling did not go off well and put him down. If we did well then you would have hailed Pant’s decision-making skills. I’m sure he will do well.”
