IND vs SA 2022: “Surprised they sent DK at 4. He is never going to bat at that number” - Wasim Jaffer questions Team India’s batting order shuffle

Wasim Jaffer has expressed surprise at Team India’s decision to promote finisher Dinesh Karthik to No. 4 in the chase against South Africa in Indore during the third T20I on Tuesday, October 4. According to the former Indian batter, the move made little sense as DK has a specific role in the T20I team.

The Men in Blue went down to the Proteas by 49 runs in the third T20I, failing to chase a target of 228. Their batting stumbled in the absence of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, and it needed some lower-order resistance to lift them to a decent 178.

Team India opened the batting with Rishabh Pant as Rahul was rested, while Karthik was sent in at No. 4, ahead of Suryakumar Yadav. Questioning Karthik’s promotion, Jaffer told ESPNcricinfo:

“I was surprised as to why they sent DK at 4. What purpose does it serve? He is never going to bat at that number. So you might as well have kept him at No. 5, because he was going to bat there today (Tuesday).

"Suryakumar Yadav, again, also batted out of position. Why do that? He was going to get lot of game time anyway. I don’t know what the mindset behind it was. Again, that was a bit confusing.”

The 44-year-old stated that he would have preferred the hosts to go in with a full-strength squad as opposed to resting players. He said:

“I would have played a full-strength team. I would have looked to go for the kill and get 3-0 and go on with the confidence into the T20 World Cup.”

Karthik top-scored for India with 46 off 21 balls. However, the Men in Blue were never in the hunt after being reduced to 86 for five.

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“We have to look at our bowling” - Team India skipper Rohit Sharma

Following their defeat in Indore, Team India captain Rohit Sharma admitted that they need to improve in a few areas, particularly on the bowling front. Reflecting on the 2-1 series win over the Proteas, he said at the post-match presentation:

"As a team, we said it at the beginning no matter what happens about the result, there's always room for improvement. Even if we do well in all three departments, we want to keep getting better. Areas of concerns, we have to look at our bowling, what more options we can find in the powerplay, middle and death.

"We were playing two quality sides, have to go back and see what better we can do. It will be challenging and we need to find answers, still working towards that."

Team India’s T20 World Cup-bound squad will now fly to Australia to prepare for the ICC event. The Shikhar Dhawan-led outfit will face South Africa in three ODIs at home from October 6 to 11.