Shreyas Iyer makes a surprising statement over Dinesh Karthik and Axar Patel

The second match of the five-match T20I series  between India and South Africa was played at Cuttack’s Barabati Stadium on Monday. The hosts had to face a second consecutive defeat against Temba Bavuma’s Men. Batting first, India posted a total of 148 for the loss of six wickets in 20 overs.

The visitors easily chased the target, thanks to an outstanding knock of 81 runs from Heinrich Klaasen. Following the defeat, questions were raised over sending Axar Patel ahead of Dinesh Karthik during the first innings. Indian batter Shreyas Iyer later revealed the reason behind sending Axar Patel ahead of Shreyas Iyer in the batting line-up.

“We strategized earlier. We had 6-7 overs left. Axar Patel is someone who can take singles and keep rotating the strike. We didn’t require someone to go and straightaway start hitting,” Iyer was quoted as saying in the post-match press conference.

“Even DK (Dinesh Karthik) can do that, but DK has been a really good asset for us after 15 overs when he can come in and slog the ball. But even he was finding it a little bit difficult to start on. The wicket played a huge role,” He added later.

Axar was also finding it very difficult to score the runs against the visitors' bowling line-up like the other Indian batters. Axar could score only ten runs in 11 balls before getting dismissed by Nortje.

After Axar’s dismissal, Bangalore’s hero in 2022 Indian T20 League, Dinesh Karthik came to bat and scored 30 runs in 21 balls. Karthik's knock helped the team reach a respectable score of 148 runs in the first innings. However, it went in vain as South Africa easily chased down the score in 18.2 overs. For South Africa, Klaasen starred with the bat, played an match-winning knock of 81 runs in 46 balls.

The third T20I is slated to be played on Tuesday in Visakhapatnam.