Former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad came down heavily on the Indian team after their loss in second T20I to West Indies in Guyana on Sunday and called it a ‘very very ordinary’ performance by Hardik Pandya and co.
India, led by Hardik Pandya, has been struggling so far in the series, losing the first two T20Is of the series after ordinary efforts with both bat and ball. They had lost the first T20I by 4 runs and now have lost by 2 wickets.
Opting to bat first after winning the toss, India posted 152/7 with Tilak Varma hitting his maiden T20I fifty and contributions from Ishan Kishan (27) and Hardik Pandya (24).
In response, India had the game in their grasp despite a belligerent counterattack by Nicholas Pooran, who smashed 67 runs. Yuzvendra Chahal with 2/19 kept India in the game and it was just a matter of time that India won as West Indies had only 2 wickets in hand and needed 24 runs more.
But Hardik Pandya opted to bring back fast bowlers at this crucial juncture and Akeal Hosein and Alzarri Jospeh tonked the remaining runs at will, with West Indies winning by 2 wickets and 7 balls to spare.
Hardik Pandya himself took three wickets, but it was Chahal, who removed Jason Holder and Shimron Hetmyer to give India a massive chance at victory and he would have probably done so if he had completed his full quota.
Venkatesh Prasad took to social media and highlighted the same issue, with Chahal not completing his quota being his main point.
"Very very ordinary. No point in brushing it aside. After the 2007 T20 World Cup, IPL started and we haven’t won a T20 World Cup in 7 attempts since, making only 1 final. The intensity and hunger to win need to be far more. Yesterday (Sunday), after Yuzi took 2 wickets in the 16th...
And Yuzi got India back into the game in what was his third over and West Indies 8th down and he didn’t bowl again and No 9 and 10 for WI found the pacers easy to handle. Should be smarter at these moments than just doing textbook stuff," he posted.
Hardik Pandya blamed the lack of runs for the defeat but didn’t acknowledge the non-use of bowling potential as not only Chahal didn’t complete his quota, but Akshar Patel didn’t even get to bowl a single delivery.
This is the first time India lost back-to-back T20Is to the West Indies. The third T20I will be played in Guyana as well on August 8.
