India coach Rahul Dravid came in for some serious fire as national team fans called for his sacking as the team management’s decision to rest captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli resulted in India losing the second ODI by 6 wickets to West Indies.
As the hunt for the perfect team combination for the forthcoming ODI World Cup continues, the fact that the Indian team management decided to rest the two senior-most players, Akshar Patel and Sanju Samson, their replacements in the XI, couldn’t do much with the bat.
India managed 181 runs in 36.4 overs despite a 90-run 1st wicket stand between Ishan Kishan (55) and Shubman Gill (34). But three wickets each from Romario Shepherd and Gudakesh Motie enabled the host to bundle the remaining 9 wickets for 91 runs.
In response, though Shardul Thakur picked 3 wickets, Shai Hope’s 63* and 48* from Keacy Carty took West Indies home with 6 wickets in hand.
India's below-par show in the match saw many questions about the team's preparation plans for the World Cup. A coincidence, Indian team management is still finding the perfect fit for the no.4 batting position like it was the case before the 2019 World Cup. This time the reason is the two best contenders, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, are out injured.
However, the team management, including coach Dravid’s wayward changes with the team, left many fans baffled and this resulted in #SackDravid trending on X.
Here are some tweets:
