India have stood by their call to select Washington Sundar ahead of Axar Patel for the Super Eight clash against South Africa on Sunday in Ahmedabad, despite suffering a heavy 76-run defeat. Axar, who has been in impressive form and also serves as India’s vice-captain, had been rested for the previous game against the Netherlands. His absence offered Washington an opportunity to get valuable match time as he worked his way back to full fitness.
However, Axar, who had delivered an outstanding performance against Pakistan, was expected to return for the first Super Eight match, considering he had delivered consistent performances in the group stage and brought balance to the side with his left-arm spin and lower-order batting. Meanwhile, India's assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate explained the decision behind leaving Axar Patel out.
“Yeah, we spent so much time deliberating about the 11 the last couple of days. And I guess the only way that it sort of didn't play into our hands is if we did have the ideal start like we did today with getting Quinton and Rickelton out so early. We were kind of looking at matchups more in the middle. And then obviously, someone has to give way. So, do we leave a batter out and get another bowler in? In hindsight, that looks like the right decision," ten Doeschate said at the press conference.
“But obviously, playing it forward and making decisions at the time, we felt we needed Rinku, as an eighth batsman, so to speak. And the decision was based on that. But certainly, it's not to take anything away from Axar and his leadership and how important he is to the team. But look we face almost every week to try to squeeze 11 places into 15, We're finding tricky. And we need to make sure we get that spot on for the next two Super 8 games,” he said.
Reflecting on the team's performance, ten Doeschate admitted that a lot of mistakes have been made by the side.
"Very disappointed in the performance. But, when you set up or set out to win a World Cup, don't expect someone to come deliver the World Cup to you halfway through the competition. So we understand we've made a lot of mistakes tonight. We understand you're probably allowed one mess-up in this phase of the competition."
"And we've messed up on a grand scale, and now the onus is on this group of guys to turn around and put in two solid performances against Zimbabwe and West Indies. Obviously with the way the group goes, you need at least four points to get through now, and it's going to need two big performances and a big bounce back from everyone involved."