Rohit Sharma couldn’t believe his luck. So sure was Rishabh Pant that Soumya Sarkar had edged Yuzvendra Chahal to his gloves that he almost implored Sharma to review once the umpire turned down their appeal. Replays however couldn’t find that edge. Earlier, in the same over (the 10th), Pant or even Chahal didn’t look confident to go for a leg-before review against Mushfiqur Rahim, who was on six. Had they reviewed it, Rahim would have been out and the match would have ended differently.
Post match, Sharma, while trying to defend his young batsmen but still admitting the total they put up was below par, called those two decisions crucial. “We have seen before when we have played matches on pitches like these that the defending or winning score becomes 140 or 150. Even today we saw that 148 was a good score if we were smart on the field. Couple of decisions we didn’t make right on the field that went against us and that batsman (Mushfiqur Rahim) went to make fifty. That was probably where we lacked in terms of decision-making,” said Sharma.
The leg-before, which Pant and Chahal didn’t claim, may have been playing on the wicketkeeper’s mind once it was clear and the off-field reaction started seeping into the field that Mushfiq was out. On the second opportunity, against Sarkar, Pant didn’t hesitate. Sharma said that as someone not in the right spot, he as captain has to rely on the wicketkeeper and the bowler. But he also added that it is unfair to blame Pant.
“See, when you are not in the right position, you have to trust your bowler and your keeper to make that decision for you. As a fielder, I am standing at covers, midwicket or slip. The angle is not right. So you got to trust your keeper and your bowler what they say and based on that you just try and make that decision. Of course, Rishabh is still very young, he has hardly played 10-12 T20Is (sic, 21 T20Is) so he will need time to understand those kind of things. It is too early to judge whether he can make those decisions. He will understand slowly. You need to give him time to make those decisions as also to the bowler. Also, it is the combination of the keeper and the bowler that makes the decision,” he said.
