This is the first time West Indies has defeated India in back to back T20 matches. Nicholas Pooran was the man for West Indies in the second T20 as he scored crucial 67 runs to hand India its second defeat in the 5 match T20I series.
From bowling perspective, team India is doing a good, especially without the experienced batch. Mukesh Kumar has looked good, Yuzvendra Chahal, in the second T20, bowled beautifully. There were questions about why he wasn’t given his full overs quota. It could have been a tactical mistake by Hardik Pandya who has now lost 3 out of 4 matches in India tour of West Indies.
From batting perspective, India is facing multiple issues. The openers have lacked consistentcy, Ishan Kishan scored 27 runs but India lost two key batters inside powerplay. They couldn’t recover from that blow as they struggled to provide any kind of pace to their innings.
Three of five top order batters were sent back to pavallion with a single digit score to their name. Both Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav are yet to give a match winning or so to say, a substantial performance for the team. Reflecting on the batting performance, Indian captain Hardik Pandya said:
With the current combination we have, we will have to trust our top 7 batters to come good and hope the bowlers win you games. We have to find ways to make sure we have the right balance but at the same time batters need to take more responsibility.
Hardik Pandya took three wickets while bowling and scored 24 runs during the middle overs, with only Tilak Varma (51) and Ishan Kishan (27) contributing more runs. The India captain was disappointed with the performance of his batsmen, as they lost wickets regularly after winning the toss and choosing to bat, resulting in a below-average score.
Pandya was full of praise for Tilak Varma, however, team’s lackluster performance hasn’t troubled him much. It appears from the outlook that Indian management is trying some sort of experiment with the current squad.
For a long time, fans were protesting that Sanju Samson must be given a good line of chance because he is a very capable short format player. However, if we exclude a few good performances then there is nothing overwhelming from him yet.
Casual Approach of Indian Cricket Team
Fans have shown their outburst on social media about the reckless and insensible approach taken by Indian batting team. Some have even called this approach “playing in the nets” kind of style. There is no affirmative action and even though playing with freedom maybe the way to go but without cautious view, it is going to create trouble at some stage.
The middle order looks a bit fizzy at this stage. It has become evident that Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni in the middle were irreplaceable. Every match is an opportunity, and youngesters have to think more about the team rather than playing an innings that is influenced by individual aspiration.
In the second match against West Indies, India in totality looked a bit fragile and vulnerable. Eleven individuals trying to play their own game and unfortunately, cricket doesn’t work that way.
