File photo of Gautam Gambhir© AFP
Former Pakistan cricket team star Basit Ali believes that VVS Laxman has established himself as a ‘hot’ contender to become the next India coach following the win over South Africa in the third T20I encounter on Wednesday. Laxman is currently the coach for the side in South Africa as Gautam Gambhir has travelled to Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The team management decided to send Tilak Varma to bat at No.3 in the place of Suryakumar Yadav in the third T20I and the decision proved to be a good one as the youngster slammed a century. Basit Ali said that these decisions attract a lot of attention and it has now placed Laxman in a good position to succeed Gambhir.
“VVS (Laxman) taught me a thing today. He is the next hot, hot, hot candidate for coaching. He did not send Suryakumar to bat at No. 3 as he wanted to maintain the left-right combination. If Australia tour does not go well for Gambhir, VVS has emerged as a strong option. The decision to not send Surya at No. 3 is one of those calls that attract attention and end up changing matches,” he said on YouTube.
Coming to the match, Tilak Varma’s spectacular maiden century stayed above Marco Jansen‘s stunning late assault as India notched a thrilling 11-run win over South Africa in the third T20I.
India now lead the four-match series 2-1. Tilak’s brilliant effort (107, 56b, 8×4, 7×6) carried India to 219 for six but Jansen (54, 17b, 4×4, 5×6) made runs at a strike-rate of 317 to nearly trump the Indian batter’s knock.
South Africa ended up at 208 for seven.
But the contest looked set for a lop-sided finish once the dangerous Heinrich Klaasen (41) fell with 53 runs needed off the last 14 balls in the chase of 220.
But Jansen’s first T20I fifty brought South Africa to the brink of turning the tables on India.
However, Arshdeep Singh (3/37) trapped Jansen leg-before with three balls left in the game to seal the fate in favour of India.
Jansen’s late charge and Klaasen’s 22-ball blitz were the only bright spots in South Africa’s reply after Verma’s sensational unbeaten 107 powered India after being invited to bat.
(With PTI inputs)
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