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Former Indian pacer Venkatesh Prasad has strongly criticized the Indian cricket team’s performance in the second T20I against West Indies in Guyana on Sunday. He characterized their display as “very very ordinary,” particularly pointing out the decisions made by Hardik Pandya and the team as a whole.
While India managed to secure a 1-0 victory in the Test series and a 2-1 win in the subsequent ODI series against West Indies, their performance in the ongoing five-game T20I series has been lacklustre. Led by Pandya, the team has faced challenges, losing the first two T20Is of the series due to subpar efforts in both batting and bowling.
In the second T20I, India chose to bat first after winning the toss and posted a total of 152/7. Tilak Varma‘s maiden T20I fifty and contributions from Ishan Kishan and Pandya were the highlights of their batting.
In reply,despite a strong counterattack by West Indies’ Nicholas Pooran, India managed to keep the match within their reach. Yuzvendra Chahal‘s effective bowling performance (2/19) helped India remain competitive. With West Indies needing 24 runs with just two wickets in hand, victory seemed possible for the Men in Blue.
However, Pandya’s decision to reintroduce fast bowlers at a crucial stage proved detrimental. Akeal Hosein and Alzarri Joseph capitalized on this and scored the remaining runs comfortably, leading West Indies to victory by 2 wickets with 7 balls to spare.
Prasad unveils insights on India’s misstep with Chahal
Prasad took to social media to emphasize a key point, highlighting that Chahal did not complete his full quota of overs.
“Very very ordinary. No point in brushing it aside. After the 2007 T20 World Cup, IPL started and we haven’t won a T20 World Cup in 7 attempts since, making only 1 finals. The intensity and hunger to win needs to be far more,” the former Indian cricketer wrote on his Twitter handle.
“And Yuzi got India back into the game in what was his third over and West Indies 8th down and he didn’t bowl again and No 9 and 10 for WI found the pacers easy to handle. Should be smarter at these moments then just doing textbook stuff,” Prasad concluded.
And Yuzi got India back into the game in what was his third over and West Indies 8th down and he didn’t bowl again and No 9 and 10 for WI found the pacers easy to handle. Should be smarter at these moments then just doing textbook stuff.
— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) August 7, 2023
Notably, Pandya blamed the lack of runs for the defeat but didn’t acknowledge the non-use of bowling potential. Not only Chahal didn’t complete his quota of 4 overs, but also Axar Patel didn’t get to bowl a single delivery.
This series marks the first time India have lost back-to-back T20Is to West Indies. With the third T20I scheduled to be played in Guyana on August 8, the Indian team will be aiming to address the issues raised by Prasad and deliver a stronger performance to avoid a series whitewash.
