West Indies defeated India by six wickets in the second T20I at the JSCA International Stadium in Ranchi on Friday (October 9), leveling the five-match series at 1-1.
Invited to bat first, India posted a mammoth 249/5. Sanju Samson top-scored with a blistering 82 off 41 balls (9 fours, 4 sixes), supported by Tilak Varma (44* off 18), Ishan Kishan (43 off 22), and Shreyas Iyer (40 off 18). Roston Chase was the pick of the West Indies bowlers with 3/24.
Despite young pacer Mayank Yadav striking early to leave the visitors at 58/3 in the powerplay, the Caribbean side pulled off a historic chase. While captain Shai Hope smashed an unbeaten 102 off 45 balls, Sherfane Rutherford hammered 84 off 37 balls as the visitors overhauled the target of 250 with 9 deliveries to spare.
Reflecting on India’s defeat, former wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik stressed that the team must address fielding lapses ahead of a demanding year of cricket and the 2027 ODI World Cup.
“No doubt, 249. If you start thinking it's going to be a hard match, then you really need to look at yourself. But fielding has been an issue for some time now. Because we have won the ODI series and the Asian Games, it has gone a bit unnoticed. But even in the final of the Asian Games, they didn't field well. In England, they didn't field well. In Ireland, they didn't field well either. So, it has been an issue,” Karthik said while speaking on Cricbuzz.
“They have let go of the previous fielding coach, and I'm sure it has come at a point when they felt he wasn't able to get the team to the next level. Now, it is Shubhadeep Ghosh, the newly appointed fielding coach, and I think he will be under the scanner. Your job is to make sure Team India fields better than it did before. If you're not able to do that, you will face the heat,” he added.
Subhadeep Ghosh was appointed as the fielding coach for the Indian men's cricket team in August this year, taking over from T Dilip after the BCCI chose not to extend the latter’s contract.
Ghosh steps into the role with extensive coaching credentials, having previously worked with the India A team and the Andhra state team.
Karthik acknowledged Ghosh's deep experience but emphasized the high-stakes nature of the job.
“Being part of Team India is always a challenge, and he's a talented fielding coach. He's been around the block for some time now, having been part of the India A team. He was also the fielding coach of the Andhra team,” he stated.
During the Ranchi T20I, speedster Mayank Yadav dropped Sherfane Rutherford when the West Indies batter was on 38. Rutherford made India pay heavily for the mistake as he stitched a game-changing 120-run partnership with Hope for the fourth wicket.
Karthik also highlighted that the fielding coach needs to work closely with the fast bowlers to improve their fielding placements and catching reliability.
“I think he should figure out a way to get the pacers to stand in the right positions and make sure they hold on to their catches,” he remarked.
The third T20I of the series will be played in Indore on Sunday (October 11).
