The Men in Blue have had a rather smooth run against the opposition so far, starting from Ahmedabad where they clinched the ODI series 3-0 last week. The West Indian players, much in demand in the T20 franchise tournaments across the world, have left a lot to be wanted.
However, even if the Indian team management might not be too worried about the result, the way the batting unit performed on Wednesday night could see coach Rahul Dravid having a word with the boys.
Chasing a little below-par score of 158 runs for victory, India got off to a fluent start courtesy skipper Rohit Sharma’s 19-ball 40. But it was after that the batters faltered. Things could have bad if the visitors had managed to get Suryakumar Yadav’s wicket.
Virat Kohli’s lean patch is now starting to impact the side. There is no doubt that the former India skipper had acted as the fulcrum of batting over the years. Although India do have the quality in others to pull through any match, the drying up of runs from Kohli’s blade might force the think-tank to restrict themselves from going for any big experimentation. Any big Kohli innings is not only a delight to watch, but will surely lift the mood in the camp.
Ishan Kishan, going for a huge sum in the IPL auction earlier this week, did not look comfortable up the order. It remains to be seen whether India prefer to go in with the winning group or take a re-look at the team combination.
The team played with five batters, one all-rounder and two spinners on Wednesday that saw Shreyas Iyer sitting out.
Skipper Sharma himself said it was a difficult decision.
“Someone like Shreyas Iyer is sitting out, very hard on him to be out and not making it to the XI, but it’s what the team requires,” he said.
But if the team still opts for what Sharma said, “we need that option in the middle, someone who can bowl,” then the onus will be more on Yadav and Venkatesh Iyer to provide solidity in the middle-order.
West Indies will welcome back Jason Holder, who played an important role in the side’s 3-2 series win against England. The all-rounder, who is capable of making a difference both with the ball and bat, missed the first T20I after being hit on the chest during a practice session.
“Jason Holder seems fine, he should be ready for the next game,” said Nicholas Pooran on Wednesday. West Indies’ highest run-getter on Wednesday was right in his analysis of the loss. “We fell 10-15 runs short, 170-175 would have been perfect on that kind of track. As batters we needed to pace our innings a bit smarter,” he said.
West Indies will look forward to seeing some fireworks from skipper Kieron Pollard who failed to step up at run rate in the death overs.
“If we had 18-20 more runs during that phase it would have been competitive,” the WI captain felt.
But the difference was made by debutant Ravi Bishnoi whose tight four overs in the middle saw the visitors get only 46 runs in nine overs between six and 15.
West Indies need to do something special to stay alive in the series.
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