ICC T20 World Cup 2022: Why Rohit Sharma picked Deepak Hooda in place of Axar Patel in the game against South Africa

Team India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat against South Africa in a Group 2 T20 World Cup match at Perth Stadium, Perth. India, who have played a couple of practice matches in Perth ahead of the tournament, have an idea about the pitch which was the reason behind Rohit’s quick decision on Sunday. 

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The Men in Blue are currently at the top of the points table in Group 2, while the Proteas are placed third with one win and one draw match due to rain.

India made one change to their XI from the last match as Deepak Hooda got a chance in place of Axar Patel. South Africa have some quality left-handers in their side which might be the reason behind the management’s decision to drop Axar. 

The pitch will also assist the bowlers and Hooda’s inclusion will strengthen India’s batting line-up.

Axar Patel played the first two matches for India in the Super 12 stage. The left-arm spinner leaked 21 runs in the only over he bowled against Pakistan and was run-out after he was promoted to bat at No. 5. 

However, Axar bounced back against the Netherlands in India's 2nd win over the tournament, picking up 2/18 in his 4-over spell.

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However, India opted to leave out Axar Patel and bring in Deepak Hooda, who can bowl handy off-spin. India's decision is seemingly to avoid using Axar against the left-hand batters of South Africa in a bid to trump the game of the match-ups. 

India have two off-spinners, including the specialist in Ravichandran Ashwin, for their crunch game in Perth.