IND vs SA 2022: "When the match gets tight, he panics" - Wasim Jaffer seeks improvement from Rishabh Pant

Wasim Jaffer believes Rishabh Pant still has a long way to go in improving his mental toughness as a captain. The cricketer-turned-analyst feels Pant "panics a bit" in tough situations, something which can only improve with experience.

Jaffer's remarks came after the youngster lost his second straight match as the interim Team India captain. South Africa trounced the hosts by four wickets at Cuttack's Barabati Stadium to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match T20I series. Heinrich Klaasen toyed with the Indian spinners with a superb one-man-show performance of 81 (46), finishing the 149-run chase with 10 balls to spare.

Pant's captaincy has become subject to intense criticism in both losses. His lack of utilization of leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was frowned upon in the first match. Here, he was criticized for relying upon Chahal and the second spinner, Axar Patel, too much when the situation demanded a fast-bowling-led strategy.

In an interaction with ESPNcricinfo, Jaffer was asked whether Pant changes his plans and strategies too easily. The former opener replied in the affirmative, saying:

"Yes, we saw something similar in the IPL as well. I feel the more he captains, the better he'll get. But, yes, at this stage, I think when the match gets tight, he panics a bit."

Pant, in his first IPL season as full-time captain, struggled to find the right balance between attacking and playing it safe during the first half. He improved in the second half, but made a few DRS errors and dropped some crucial catches at key moments which played a role in Delhi Capitals' (DC) failure to qualify in the top four.

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"To some extent, yes" - Wasim Jaffer on whether India is out of this series already

Jaffer also believes that the series has already slipped out of India's hands. He said the team will need to find a way to beat the toss advantage Pant lost both tosses and dew helped the Proteas' chases - and bring out their best performance consistently to have a chance at making it 3-2. He said:

"To some extent, yes. Being 2-0 down in a five-match series, if even one of the next three goes even marginally bad [it will be curtains down]. So India will have to play very good cricket irrespective of the toss..."

Jaffer also agreed that winning the toss is likely to amount to winning the match for the remainder of the series as well. The Ranji Trophy legend said:

"Yes, that's been the story so far. South Africa won both the tosses and both results went their way so India needs to win at least the next two tosses."

The third T20I will be played in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday, beginning at the usual 7:00 pm IST.