"He would have felt that the luck is favouring him" - Zaheer Khan on Shreyas Iyer dropping Rassie van der Dussen's catch in IND vs SA 1st T20I

Zaheer Khan pointed out how South Africa's Rassie van der Dussen got a reprieve during the T20I series opener against India on Thursday. He suggested that the batter looked to take more chances against the bowlers after that, as luck was on his side.

Shreyas Iyer dropped Van der Dussen's catch while fielding at deep mid-wicket when the batter was at 29 off 31 deliveries. The drop proved to be costly as the swashbuckler took the Indian bowlers to the cleaners and helped his side claim a stunning win.

Following the game, Zaheer Khan stated on Cricbuzz that the right-hander changed his approach after the missed chance. He opined that the player was able to successfully execute his plans in the second half of the innings after struggling to get going early on.

He said:

"The dropped catch did help Rassie van der Dussen. As a batter, he would have felt that the luck is favouring him and he can take more chances and everything just panned out exactly how he wanted it to."

Van der Dussen slammed 75 runs from just 46 deliveries in the contest. His unbeaten 131-run partnership with David Miller sealed the deal for the visitors as they chased down India's stiff total of 211 with five balls to spare.

He highlighted how David Miller set the tone for the run chase with his explosive knock of 64*. He reckoned that the southpaw shifted the momentum towards his side with his batting exploits.

Zaheer Khan added:

"David Miller was superb. He's the one that made the game for South Africa. Rassie van der Dussen was taking more time than required in the buildup of his innings. But David Miller kept South Africa in the hunt. He put the Indian bowling under pressure and kept the tempo going. Rassie van der Dussen later caught up and actually overshadowed Miller towards the end. But Miller's impact was felt during the 11th, 12th and 13th over and he set the platform."

Team India's T20I winning streak came to an end as they suffered a heartbreaking defeat against the Proteas at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. The Rishabh Pant-led side will be aiming to bounce back by coming up with an improved performance in the second fixture of the rubber.

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"When you've scored 211 runs, you expect your bowling lineup to go out there and do the job for your team" - Zaheer Khan

Zaheer Khan further added that India's bowling unit let them down in the encounter. He pointed out that the side had put enough runs on the board after being asked to bat first, but the bowlers failed to defend the score.

However, despite the loss, Zaheer Khan opined that the Men in Blue would persist with the same playing XI for the second T20I. He stated:

"I don't see any changes to the Indian playing XI for the 2nd T20I. There will be talks on how they could have closed different situations of the game because the margins are very small. When you've scored 211 runs, you expect your bowling lineup to go out there and do the job for your team."

India and South Africa will battle it out in the second T20I of their five-match series on Sunday, June 12. The match is scheduled to be played at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack.