Former Team India pacer Zaheer Khan has lashed out at Indian cricket team captain Rishabh Pant for underusing spinner Yuzvendra Chahal in the side's loss to South Africa in the first T20I in Delhi. The game played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in the national capital turned out to be a high-scoring affair. While the hosts posted an imposing total of 211/4 in the first innings and looked good to complete a word record 13th victory in the shortest format, they were undone by blistering knocks from Rassie van der Dussen and David Miller as the Proteas coasted through to a seven-wicket triumph with five balls to spare.

After the match, even Rishabh Pant blamed the Team India bowlers for the defeat in Delhi, claiming they left the side with their non-execution. The 24-year-old further added that India's total was defendable at the slow Delhi pitch, but the bowlers, particularly the spinners missed a trick or two as they allowed Rassie van der Dussen and David Miller to dictate the terms of play, which cost the home team dearly.

“I think we had enough on the board but were off with our execution, but credit to the opposition. We thought the slower one was working when we were batting but it became easier in the second innings,” Pant said during the post-match presentation ceremony.

Zaheer Khan, on the other hand, was critical of Rishabh Pant's handling of Yuzvendra Chahal who only bowled 2.1 overs in the first match of the series.

Zaheer Khan was left baffled by Rishabh Pant's decision to not employ his premier spin bowler for his full quota of four overs because on Arun Jaitley Stadium's deck Yuzvendra Chahal could have turned out a handful.

Over the years, Chahal has tasted immense success on pitches that offer some sort of assistance and he could have done the same in Delhi. That's possibly the reason why Rishabh Pant's decision has been called into question.

“Not using Yuzvendra Chahal’s full quota of four overs is something Rishabh Pant will look at in hindsight and team management will have conversations around. Because we have seen Chahal do that – he’s having a tough day but having that ability to come back and take wickets. And what the Indian team required to win this game was to bring the next batter in. So the call was in your hand,” Zaheer told Cricbuzz.

“Maybe in the hindsight, Rishabh Pant will definitely try and analyse the game and see what he could have done differently. Maybe Axar’s over went for runs could have given him the signal that maybe spin is not the right option now,” he added.

“Ability of Chahal is greater than that. He could have created an opportunity – he can go for runs but can give you wickets. The game would have been different,” Zaheer argued.

Notably, the leg-spinner was the top wicket-taker in the recently-held Indian Premier League (IPL), where he went on to pick 27 wickets for the Rajasthan Royals (RR).

Throughout the competition, Yuzvendra Chahal asked many questions from the batters, at times surprising them with drift and loop on his deliveries, earning accolades for his performances from fans and pundits alike.

Rishabh Pant's tactics were also slammed by Ashish Nehra, who was the head coach of the Gujarat Titans, the eventual champions of the 15th edition of the IPL.

“The opposition scored 212 and Chahal bowled merely two overs. It wasn't as if he conceded 22 runs in one over. You know that the runs are flowing. Even Axar Patel bowled an over to the left-handed David Miller. So, it was quite surprising for me that a bowler like Yuzvendra Chahal bowled only two,” Ashish Nehra said.

“Even Rassie van der Dussen was there. Even if you're looking at the left-right combination, you did bowl Axar Patel. So, I think you should've bowled Chahal. I can understand the thinking that you would want to contain the flow of runs, but once David Miller started hitting sixes off almost every over, you had to bring Chahal in,” he added.

Nehra was also critical of Team India head coach Rahul Dravid who he thought could have sent a message to Rishabh Pant about bringing Yuzvendra Chahal back into the attack.

“Rishabh Pant is a young captain, he will learn and hopefully he will get better. Now, if Dravid feels that Chahal should bowl an over, obviously a message can be sent. They have to keep things simple and be proactive.”

“He only bowled 2 overs today. Sometimes teams hold back leg spinners because there is a left-hander batting. It is important to keep a wicket-taking option in the middle overs. If you have to stop a top-quality International batter, you will have to take his wicket, defensive bowling won’t work,” Nehra asserted.