India lost the T20 series against West Indies by 3-2. It was the decider where the Indian skipper made a blunder with the bowling line-up. Choosing to bat first was a sensible option since the pitch of Central Broward Regional Park, Florida, was not working out the way it was the day before. It had less flatness, plus rain played spoilsport for a while. Enter the second inning, and Hardik Pandya went on a rampant bowling line-up creation.
India posted a total of 165 runs with a loss of 9 wickets. The opening pair failed to deliver despite winning the previous match for the side. Jaiswal and Gill both shot 50+ runs for a partnership of 165 runs. It was only in the 16th over that the man went down for the first wicket of the run. Things went under the storm this time as both could only come up with a total of 14 runs.
Shubham Gill could have utilized the DRS option as LBW later showed to miss the wicket by a pretty wide margin. Suryakumar Yadav’s judgment from the other end was clouded, and he told him to let it go. The result could have been something different if Gill had taken the review.
Tilak Varma and Sanju Samson were taken aback by the attack of Chase and Sharphard, respectively. Latter went on to bag the title of Player of the Match for picking 4 wickets for 31 runs in 4 overs. The embarrassment continued when Pandya got restricted to 14 runs for a strike rate of 77.78. The right-handed batter was on the field with his second man, playing his 92nd T20I match. He departed in the 18th over without surpassing his overall average score of 25.43 in the format.
Brandon King remained unbeaten for 85 runs off 55 balls. West Indies bowler, spinners to be more specific, utilized the pitch conditions – replicating what happened in the 4th T20. WI batters, on the other hand, got the privilege of facing Pandya’s experiment, which is now only the talking point all over the country.
Kyle Myers and Nicholas Pooran went back to the dugout before they could become a threat to the side. Pooran, however, missed his 50-run mark by 3 runs.
A total of 8 Indian bowlers attempted to take a wicket. Pandya himself decided to lead the attack but ended up covering the economy of 10.67. Mukesh Kumar, a full-time bowler, only got to prove his worth in 6 balls. Axar Patel had a similar run. Online cricket betting sites have India as their favorite. The result could have been suitable if some of the full-time bowlers were actually given a chance to demonstrate their full potential.
India is next going to face Ireland for a series of 3 T20s. Asia Cup, ODI format, commences after that. Preparations look half-baked at the moment by the Indian Cricket Team. Fans may not want to hold their breath for that tour.
