Sunil Gavaskar was left fuming as Arshdeep Singh bowled seven wides in the first innings of the 2nd T20I between India and South Africa in Mullanpur. It happened in the 11th over of the first innings and it also annoyed Hardik Pandya and skipper Suryakumar Yadav. The match began with India winning the toss and opted to bowl.
Reacting to Arshdeep’s bowling during the over, commentator Sunil Gavaskar slammed the pacer and said, “You can’t be bowling the same line over and over again.” The camera panned to head coach Gautam Gambhir, who lost his cool in the dugout, gesturing angrily as the seven wides derailed India’s momentum.
The over began with the pacer going full, and Quinton de Kock smashed him right into the sightscreen for a six. Under pressure, Arshdeep failed to keep his composure, responding with two wide deliveries. Then he managed to get a dot as De Kock went for a reverse sweep and missed his shot. Just when it looked like Arshdeep had recovered, he sent a streak of four wides as South Africa also got past 100.
Then he managed to maintain his line, sending it on length as De Kock pulled him for a single. For the fourth ball, Arshdeep pitched it up, and Aiden Markram took a double, followed by a single. In the final ball against De Kock, Arshdeep bowled another wide. He managed to end his over as he bowled the sixth ball again, maintaining his line, as De Kock took a single. The over saw South Africa get 18 runs.
India went with an unchanged playing XI for the first T20I, having won the first fixture of the five-match series. Meanwhile, South Africa made some changes as Reeze Hendricks, George Linde and Ottneil Baartman replaced Tristan Stubbs, Keshav Maharaj and Anrich Nortje. The venue also saw the unveiling of two new stands, named after Yuvraj Singh and Harmanpreet Kaur. it is also the first-ever men’s international cricket match in Mullanpur.
The Indian bowling unit had an expensive outng as Arshdeep Singh leaked 54 runs in four overs, and failed to take any wickets. Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah conceded 45 in four overs and didn’t take any dismissals. In the 19th over, Arshdeep conceded 16 runs and Bumrah was smashed for 18 in the final over. Meanwhile, Quinton de Kock’s 90 was key as South Africa posted 213/4 in 20 overs.
