India defeated the West Indies by 14 runs in the third T20 International in Indore on Sunday (October 11) to claim a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
Following the match, West Indies all-rounder Shamar Springer shared insights into their strategy against India's star opener, Abhishek Sharma.
Abhishek smashed 69 off 30 balls, including 6 fours and 5 sixes. During this explosive knock, he scored his 14th half-century and became the fastest-ever player in terms of balls faced to reach 2,000 T20I runs.
The southpaw stitched together a 108-run second-wicket partnership with Ishan Kishan (37), helping India post a massive total of 223 runs.
Despite Springer's late-game fireworks—blitzing 35* off just 11 balls with 4 sixes and 2 fours—the West Indies fell just short, finishing their innings at 209/7.
During the post-match press conference, Springer admitted that Abhishek's initial dominance over off-spinner Roston Chase forced the West Indies to abandon their primary tactics. Their backup plan was to be as defensive as possible to mitigate the Indian opener’s power hitting.
"He is a world-class player. Kudos to him, for sure. But I guess our plan B is to just be as defensive as possible and try to make him get singles and twos, running at moments. Nothing too extravagant," Springer told reporters.
"It was just a matter of trying to pull him back and be as impressive as possible. Because there's not much control you can really have here. The wickets are so good and those players are world-class players and they're the best for a reason. So, it's not really much you can really do besides be defensive," he added.
Springer credited the Indian bowling unit for exploiting a low-bounce wicket much better than they did, though he maintained that the 224-target was chaseable.
"I guess we missed out on a few balls. Still, kudos to the (Indian) bowlers. They actually did pretty well. But there were a few balls that we could have put away and maybe brought the game a little closer," he said.
"They kind of stifled us and left us with too much (many) runs down the end. We thought the wicket would play a little better. The ball kept a bit lower than we expected. Also, we thought there would be some dew in the second half but there wasn't really any dew.
"The nature of the wicket was a little low, and the Indian bowlers used the wicket a lot better," Springer remarked.
He rejected suggestions that skipper Shai Hope's early dismissal for five had a cascading effect on the West Indies' batting, stating the tourists could have pulled off the chase if they had found an extra 6 runs in either the Powerplay or the middle overs.
"I don't think so. We have great depth. We are back in the middle. Today wasn't as good. It was an opportunity for someone else to step up. I mean, we fell short by 14 runs. In the middle period and powerplay, if we had got six more runs in either phase, we probably could have got over it," Springer said.
The 28-year-old emphasized that the main goal for the players is to win the series against India, not to use the games as a personal audition for lucrative global T20 leagues.
"It's secondary. Obviously, the goal is to win. But a by-product of doing well against India naturally would put some spotlight on you. That's not the goal per se. It's just a matter of doing well, and then that will take care of itself," he said.
Shamar Springer called his teammate, Roston Chase, a crucial "x-factor" for the Caribbean side. The right-arm spinner has picked up six wickets in three T20Is so far.
"For sure, he has been underrated so far. But in our dressing room, we really appreciate what he does. He brings that control and calmness to our team. He is the x-factor so far," he concluded.
(With PTI Inputs)
