In the second Twenty20 cricket international on Sunday, West Indies managed to win by two wickets with only seven balls left, despite a late scare. India chose to bat first, but unfortunately, the script did not go according to plan as they lost wickets frequently.
‘We need batters to take more responsibility says Hardik Pandya on 2nd T20I loss to West Indies
India faced a tough situation when they were at 18/2. However, Tilak Varma stepped up and formed an important 42-run partnership with Ishan Kishan. Later, he joined forces with Captain Hardik Pandya and together they added 38 runs. Hardik attempted to increase India’s score by hitting two sixes, but unfortunately, Alzarri Joseph bowled an excellent yorker that dismissed the Indian skipper.
During the post-match interview, Pandya expressed his disappointment with the Indian team’s batting performance and suggested that the batters take more responsibility in similar games as the team is trying to adapt to new methods. The captain stated that a total of 160 or 170 would have been better than what they achieved. He also recognized the difficulty in rotating spinners with the way Tilak Varma was batting, who took control of the game with his impressive performance.
Kishan played some shots during his 23-ball stay, including a six over deep square leg off Akeal Hosein. However, he couldn’t convert his start into a meaningful innings and was bowled by Romario Shepherd. Similarly, Shubman Gill’s time in the middle was short-lived.
Under the pressure of successive dot balls, he showed his class by hitting a maximum in the third over but lost his wicket in the very next ball off Joseph.
Given our current lineup, we must rely on our top 7 batters to perform well and hope that our bowlers
can secure victories for us.
We need to strive for balance while also encouraging our batters to take greater responsibility. The addition of a left-handed batter at number 4 provides us with valuable variety. It’s hard to believe that he’s only played in two international matches so far.
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