Did RR choose the wrong batters for the Super Over? Bishop and Pujara think so

Did Rajasthan Royals (RR) get their choice of batters wrong in the Super Over against Delhi Capitals (DC) in Delhi?

After Mitchell Starc tied the game for DC in regular time, RR sent in Shimron Hetmyer and Riyan Parag - a left-right combination - for the Super Over, with Yashasvi Jaiswal as the third batter. Starc once again took the ball for DC and conceded only 11, with Parag and Jaiswal run out on the fourth and fifth deliveries, respectively. KL Rahul and Tristan Stubbs needed just four balls to chase it down against Sandeep Sharma.

Could RR have sent in Nitish Rana, who scored 51 off 28 in the regular time? Cheteshwar Pujara and Ian Bishop think so.

"I think Nitish should have been there in those three," Pujara said on ESPNcricinfo TimeOut. "But I don't know whether he should have started. I would want Jaiswal to start because of the way he bats against Mitchell Starc - his record [against Starc] has been phenomenal across formats [26 runs from 15 balls without a dismissal in T20s and 133 from 203 with three dismissals in Tests].

"I know it was the Super Over and Starc was just trying to execute his yorkers, but there's a psychological advantage. If Yashasvi had faced a few balls, then Starc would have been under some pressure."

Bishop, Pujara's co-panellist on the show, agreed. "I like Jaiswal at the top there, but I am biased towards Nitish Rana as well," he said. "I would not mind Rana's silky skill to come in there, not necessarily raw power."

DC captain Axar Patel was surprised to see Hetmyer come out too. "Hetmyer wasn't able to connect in the match either," Axar said after the game. "So I felt Jaiswal and Riyan would come out. But it worked out well for us, whoever they sent out."

When Rana himself was asked about it, he defended the team management's decision.

"The team management, the captain, and senior players decide it and I think it was a correct decision," he said at the post-match press conference. "Had Hetmyer hit two sixes, this question would not have been there. Hetmyer is our finisher and he has delivered for us in the past.

"I think we were one big shot short. We were targeting 15 runs in the Super Over because we know if you have 15 runs and you get one wicket, there's a chance because then the batting team is under pressure. I think credit goes to Starc. We saw this type of death bowling in the IPL after a long time."

With the ball, RR preferred Sandeep over Jofra Archer, who famously bowled the Super Over in the 2019 ODI World Cup final.

"Sandy has bowled such overs for us previously," Rana said, "and I think he was most likely the best bowler we had for this situation."