Ex Indian Head Coach and legendary commentator Ravi Shastri made the controversial decision for the upcoming South Africa T20 International series. He said that he won’t have Karthik and Venkatesh on his team.

Shastri making smart choices and decisions

Ravi stated: “I think they will go with the guys they will want to see first – the Rahuls, the Ruturaj Gaikwads – maybe they will open. They will probably give Ishan (Kishan) a break in this game or bat him at three.

He elaborated: “No. 7 will be Axar Patel. I think eight will be Bhuvneshwar Kumar batting-wise, then Chahal, Arshdeep Singh/Umran Malik, and Harshal Patel. Umran or Arshdeep depending on the ground and what the pitch is like.

“I think if Bhuvi plays, then Umran is better because Bhuvi can do a job for you at the death. But then again you are looking for someone at the death, they are looking to develop that bowler. So if Harshal is going to do that, he plays that game.”

Shastri warns India ahead of T20I Series

The former Indian head coach was quite straightforward as he said that India needs to have a fearless approach if they want to beat South Africa as South Africa can’t be taken lightly. Proteas had a topsy-turvy T20 World Cup 2021 where they failed at the last junction that too on NRR. All in all, South Africa can be considered as the dark horse and 5 T20I’s means any team can make a comeback and stamp their authority.