'India missed a trick': Fingers pointed at Captain Hardik And Coach Dravid over strategy, selection calls after 1st T20I loss vs WI
For the second time in just three days, India lost to West Indies in a limited-overs match without players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Last Saturday, they lost the 2nd game of the ODI series by 6 wickets. On Thursday, they lost the first game of the T20I series by 4 wickets.
Experts were disappointed with captain Hardik Pandya and head coach Rahul Dravid for making bad decisions about who to pick and what to do on the pitch. The West Indies fast bowler did a great job of using the change of pace to stop the new Indian team from being too strong.
If the ODI series in the Caribbeans was seen as the start of the final part of India's preparations for the ODI World Cup, followed by the Asia Cup and a home series against Australia, then the T20I match was seen as the start of India's preparations for the T20 World Cup next year.
West Indies were limited to 149 runs, which was a good start for the Men in Blue. However, former India opener Aakash Chopra thought the team missed a chance when they didn't give Yuzvendra Chahal his full four overs, even though he had two wickets in the same over during the powerplay.
In fact, only three of the six bowlers—Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik, and Arshdeep Singh—bowled enough to meet their quotas.
When Chahal came on in the fourth over, he got rid of Kyle Mayers with his first ball and then Brandon King with his second. He was then taken off the attack and brought back for the 13th and 16th over. Axar Patel, on the other hand, only threw for two overs and didn't get anyone out.
"India's start with the ball wasn't great. Then Yuzi Chahal came in, and in one over, he took two wickets. He was stopped after that. Aakash said on his YouTube account, "If Yuzi Chahal didn't bowl four overs in yesterday's game, even though he took two wickets in his first over, I think you missed a chance."
"I was a little upset that you didn't let him use his three overs. Nicholas Pooran bowls very well against left-handers, so you could have thrown him out, but you stopped him. You said you'll get him to bowl later. It was a little strange.
"Kuldeep Yadav bowled all of the overs he was supposed to. Nicholas Pooran was playing left-handed, so you only gave Axar Patel two overs to bowl because he could have hit him. You don't always know if having too many choices is a bad thing or a good thing.
Kuldeep at No.8?
West Indies could only score 149 for six, but India's bowlers couldn't get the team over the mark. Wasim Jaffer told Crichistory.in that he didn't understand why Kuldeep Yadav was the No.8 batter.
After the openers were both out in the fifth over, Suryakumar Yadav and newcomer Tilak Varma put on 39 runs to get India back on track. However, they were both out in the next two overs. Hardik and Sanju Samson tried to get India back on track, but they both got out in the same over, and Sanju Samson was run out, which was a bad way to lose.
"Numbers 8, 9, 10, and 11 can't hit the ball out of the park. When you play in this style, you have to worry about that. You would bet on Australia, England, New Zealand, or even West Indies to get those runs. "India isn't good at that, and that's where the balance needs to be right," said Jaffer.
"There are a lot of things to think about when putting those two things together. Having Kuldeep finish eighth is not the answer."On Sunday, August 6, in Guyana, the second T20I match will be played.