2 mistakes and 1 masterstroke by India in the 2nd T20I vs Ireland
Team India bounced back from the disappointment of losing the five-match T20I series against West Indies as they clinched the ongoing three-game assignment in Ireland on Sunday.
After winning the series opener by a narrow two-run margin via the DLS method, the Men in Blue needed to turn in a more assertive display in Dublin. As the rain relented to allow a full, sun-bathed game, India came up with a convincing display that saw them run out winners by 33 runs.
With the win, Jasprit Bumrah and Co. took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. While they now have room to experiment in the dead rubber, which will also be their final international game before the Asia Cup, they will take some learnings away from their display on Sunday.
Here are two mistakes and one masterstroke made by Team India in the second T20I against Ireland.
#3 Mistake - Ruturaj Gaikwad could've scored at a faster rate
With Washington Sundar batting at No. 7 and frontline bowlers making up the final four spots of India's playing XI, it was understandable that the top-order batters didn't want to go hell for leather in unison.
After Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Varma departed within the first 25 balls of the innings, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sanju Samson joined forces at the crease. The duo didn't want to take any undue risks at the start of their partnership as they turned the ball around corners and only tried to dispatch the loose deliveries.
However, while Samson cut loose in a massive Josh Little over, Gaikwad never quite got going. He was dismissed in the 16th over, foxed by a slower one from Barry McCarthy, having made 58 off 43 balls, an innings featuring six fours and one six.
Gaikwad played barely any attacking shots in the powerplay and didn't put the pedal to the metal in the middle overs either. While India's lack of batting depth may have played a part in that, the opening batter could've looked to up the ante earlier in the innings.
#2 Masterstroke - Jasprit Bumrah marshaled his bowling resources well
On a pitch that didn't have much in it for the bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah marshaled his bowling resources well in the second T20I.
The Indian skipper took himself out of the attack after bowling the opening over, with Prasidh Krishna's introduction immediately making a difference. He also persisted with Ravi Bishnoi in the last powerplay over, with the leg-spinner scalping another important wicket in that phase.
Bumrah did well in the middle overs as well, squeezing out two overs each from Washington Sundar and Shivam Dube. Finally, the man himself returned to close out the game, bowling two overs at the death and conceding just eight runs while picking up two wickets.
As a welcome sign, Bumrah's leadership in the second T20I had none of the unpredictability and limelight-hogging that has become typical of Hardik Pandya's nature at the helm even though India had some room to work with.
#1 Mistake - India got the entry points of Shivam Dube and Rinku Singh wrong
Shivam Dube made a name for himself in the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) as an accomplished hitter of spin. Rinku Singh, meanwhile, is known to be stronger against pace and is also someone who likes to take his time before teeing off.
Despite knowing these clear differences in the two southpaw's games, India chose to send in Rinku at No. 5, once Sanju Samson was dismissed in the 13th over. Leg-spinner Ben White had almost half his spell remaining, and Dube could've taken him on better than his fellow middle-order left-hander.
Dube eventually came to the crease in the 16th over and had nearly four overs of quality pace to face. He struggled to find the middle of his bat, and his eventual strike rate of 137.5 was only even that high because of the two sixes he hit late in his knock.
India got the entry points of Rinku and Dube wrong in the second T20I, a tactical error that likely shaved at least a few runs off the team's total.