After South Africa lost the third T20I to India at Dharamsala, former South Africa pacer Dale Steyn slammed the team’s approach and criticised the way they were chopping and changing their batting order.
“The combination South Africa are trying to mix up is never quite the same every game, and I’m not sure what exactly they’re looking for. It creates insecurity among the batters because they don’t know where they’re batting or what their role is,” Steyn said on JioHotstar.
He then elaborated which changes from the South African think tank had particularly ticked him off.
“David Miller batted superbly in the last game to guide South Africa past 200 along with Donovan Ferreira, and then in a game like this—at a ground where Miller has played the most, he’s sitting on the bench. I’m not understanding what South Africa are trying to do. If they’re saying they’re just experimenting, it almost sounds like they don’t care whether they win the series or not. There needs to be stability in selection. Continuous changes over the time makes it very difficult for the team to consistently perform.”
The visiting South African team made three changes to their playing XI from the side that won the second T20I in New Chandigarh to level the five-match T20 series against Indian. South Africa brought in Tristan Stubbs, Corbin Bosch and Anrich Nortje with David Miller, Lutho Sipamla and George Linde making way. The changes meant that Aiden Markram and Donovon Ferreira were the only spinners in the side for the third T20.
India and South Africa will play two more games this week, with the Lucknow clash happening on Wednesday and the series finale happening at Ahmedabad on Friday.
Steyn praises Harshit Rana
Steyn, meanwhile, praised India’s Harshit Rana after the pacer claimed crucial wickets of Quinton de Kock and Dewald Brevis in Dharamsala.
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“What impresses me most is that he (Rana) wants the ball in his hand. He didn’t play the first two games, got his opportunity in this game, and ran in hard and fast. You rarely see a captain push an opening bowler through three overs straight away, but both opening bowlers did that. It shows that Harshit Rana really wants to be part of this team. He grabbed his opportunity with both hands. He bowled on merit, exactly how he wanted to—very skilfull. Above all, you can see the desire. It’s fantastic to see a player make the most of his chance,” Steyn said.