2 mistakes and 1 masterstroke by India in the 5th T20I vs West Indies
Team India came undone in the deciding clash at Lauderhill in Florida on Sunday as West Indies hammered them by eight wickets to clinch the series by a 3-2 margin.
At the post-match presentation after India's loss, captain Hardik Pandya spoke about "the process" and stated that "it's good to lose sometimes". However, both the skipper and the team management must come under scrutiny for the variety of tactical gaffes they made throughout the assignment.
India have just lost their first bilateral series in any format to the Windies in 17 years, and questions must be asked about the way they planned and executed. With the 2024 T20 World Cup scheduled to be held across the same venues, the Men in Blue will know that they need to carefully reflect on their performances.
Here are two mistakes and one masterstroke made by Team India in the fifth T20I against West Indies.
#3 Mistake - Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav decided not to review the former's lbw decision
After Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed early, India needed Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav to stitch together a meaningful partnership and maximize the remainder of the powerplay.
However, Gill was given out LBW in the third over while attempting a sweep off Akeal Hosein. The ball struck the right-hander on the outer half of his front pad, and with leg-stump being barely visible, the angle seemed to be taking it down leg even in real-time.
Gill, though, was more than happy to walk back without really consulting his partner, who didn't find the need to call him back either.
With India having two reviews, they really should've taken a chance on a call that definitely wasn't plumb in front, especially given the situation of the game.
#2 Masterstroke - Suryakumar Yadav paced his innings perfectly
Suryakumar Yadav was at the crease for 17 overs of India's innings after coming in in the very first over. If not for his gritty knock, the Men in Blue would've struggled to put on a defendable total.
Suryakumar needed to rein in his aggressive tendencies at least slightly, and he did so. He took 25 singles in his 45-ball innings, ambling to one of his slowest half-centuries in the format while playing out Hosein. At the same time, SKY managed to hit four fours and three sixes off the other bowlers.
Suryakumar was slightly off-color at the start of the series, but he showed why he's India best T20I batter when put under the pump.
#1 Mistake - Toss, batting, bowling: Hardik Pandya got it wrong on all fronts
Hardik Pandya has spoken about leading from the front and trusting the process, but those seem to be empty words right now. Not only did India get it wrong on several tactical fronts in the T20I series against West Indies, but the skipper himself turned in a terrible all-round display.
Hardik won the toss and elected to bat first. Although records at the venue suggested that chasing teams generally come up short, the Men in Blue had scaled down the Windies' total less than 24 hours ago. Rain, which eventually ended up having a say in the game, was on the forecast as well.
Hardik then dug himself into a hole while batting, and his strike rate read close to 50 by the time he had scored seven runs. The 29-year-old couldn't break the shackles and was dismissed to leave the rest of the middle order with too much work to do. His bowling changes, meanwhile, were once again bizarre.