'Their cautious approach cost them the match' - Zaheer Khan on India's defeat in 2nd T20I against Sri Lanka

Former Indian fast bowler Zaheer Khan expressed that the Indian team had a very cautious approach in the second T20I against Sri Lanka which might have caused them to lose the match. India ended up making only 132 in the first innings of the match in Colombo on July 29. India lost the match in the last over with Sri Lanka just about getting over the line. 

Team India was a batter short in the match. After Krunal Pandya was tested with COVID-19, all of his close contacts were told to isolate, which left them with only 11 players, out of which there were only five specialist batters. Bhuvneshwar Kumar batted at no.6 for India in this match and the cautious approach which Zaheer talked about could be a direct result of having just five batters in the XI. 

After 15 overs, India’s score was not even above 100. Zaheer rightly noted that in a situation like that the top order set a good platform for the lower order to score runs quickly, which wasn’t the case. He also felt that India’s total was about 20 or 25 runs short. As it turned out Sri Lanka crawled their way to the target, only getting there in 19.4 overs after losing six wickets. 

I feel they fell 20-25 runs short: Zaheer Khan

“After 15 overs, India were 95 or 96 runs with just two wickets down. When you have a cautious approach, you set the platform for the last five overs and get to 150. But I feel they fell 20-25 runs short,” Zaheer Khan stated during a show on Cricbuzz. India is set to play with a similar combination for the third and final T20I on Thursday.

Zaheer didn’t criticize the bowlers as he felt they did make a game out of the low score which they had to defend. He also said that the turning point was how India batted. “I will not get into criticizing the bowlers. If you just look at bowling in isolation, it was a fantastic effort by the Indian team. They have made the game out of it, there is no doubt about that. For me, the turning point was when the Indian team batted,” Zaheer Khan concluded.