Rahul Dravid, the head coach of India, defended his team’s choice to bowl first in the second T20I by pointing out that there was a lot of dew when the game ended and that one could not make such decisions based just on historical statistics. Sri Lanka scored 206 runs after being given the chance to bat, but India only managed 57 runs before losing by 16 runs.
Before Thursday, teams batting first have won 34 games at the MCA Stadium in all T20s, compared to 29 victories by the pursuing teams. Dasun Shanaka, the captain of Sri Lanka, made a similar observation after losing the toss and said that he was already planning to bat first.
Dravid countered that the surface was favourable for batting and that it wasn’t a terrible idea to bowl first because a dew was predicted for the second half.
At the news conference, he remarked, “The amount of dew there was at the back-end… it’s just that we lost a few wickets in the chase.” “I believe we would have won if we had a few wickets in hand… Getting there already. Dew, though, was plentiful.
“History cannot be used as a guide. To be honest, it seemed like a pretty good pitch, and it continued to be a fantastic wicket throughout. If you pitched it with the new ball in the proper spots, it helped the quick bowlers a little bit. But other from that, I believed it to be a solid wicket.
They played brilliantly to reach 207 [206], but we handled the ball poorly at times. We ran them pretty close despite losing so many wickets. He scored 65 runs in only 31 balls, including three fours and six sixes, giving India some hope. Shivam Mavi also smashed 26 off 15 balls at the finish while using the long handle.
Dravid noted that Axar’s batting “is rising up leaps and bounds.” It was only a matter of improving his batting because we had always known about his skill with the ball. We have noticed it in his playing since he has been a member of the squad for more than a year. We are aware of how crucial it is for us to have it.
whether it be Test cricket, one-day cricket, or here. Having individuals like him and Washy [Washington Sundar], who regrettably isn’t getting a game, are incredibly encouraging indicators for us. He is not only hitting and playing really well. Finally, maybe Jadeja’s return will provide us with a lovely little spin-bowling all-rounder area.