IND v WI 2022: 3 players who shined and two who flopped in the first T20I
Team India started their T20I series against the West Indies with a bang, winning the first match by a massive margin of 68 runs.
Batting first, the visitors posted 190 runs in Trinidad and managed to bundle out the hosts for just 122. The Men in Blue will now approach the remaining four matches with confidence.
On that note, here’s looking at two Indian players who flopped in the match and three players who were bang on point.
Flopped
Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer walked in with India placed comfortably at 44 for the loss of one wicket and had the platform laid out for him to play a big one. However, the Mumbai batsman failed to get going.
He was dismissed for a duck off the fourth ball he faced, putting India in a precarious position, which they eventually recovered from.
Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant never looked comfortable. Can’t let T20 become his nemesis. Opportunities don’t come every day #IndvsWI
The wicketkeeper-batter has failed to perform to his potential in T20Is off late. He often looks in two minds in the shortest format of the game, leading to a sub-par run of performances.
Pant walked in at four in the first T20I but could only manage 14 runs off 12 deliveries before Keemo Paul picked up his wicket.
Shined
Rohit Sharma
The full-time India white-ball captain marked his return with a superlative performance, slamming 64 runs in 44 deliveries while opening the innings.
Rohit held on to one end as wickets continued tumbling on the other and was only dismissed in the 15th over, when India had reached 127 and were just a typical Dinesh Karthik knock away from reaching a solid total.
Dinesh Karthik
Dinesh Karthik has continued to perform superbly in the shortest format of the game and seems a shoo-in to play the finisher’s role for India in the upcoming T20I World Cup.
Walking in with India at 127 for five, Karthik blasted his way to a 19-ball-41, an innings laced with four fours and two sixes. He took India to a commendable total, which they ultimately defended easily.
Ravichandran Ashwin
The off-spinner was probably the pick of the bowlers even when most of them performed really well. With the bat, Ashwin played second fiddle to Karthik, who was bludgeoning his way to take India to a fighting total, and scored 13 runs in 10 balls.
With his off-spin, the veteran picked up two wickets while giving away just 22 runs in his quote of four overs in the T20I.