"I thought he outfoxed him really well" - Parthiv Patel on how Kuldeep Yadav rectified his areas to dismiss Nicholas Pooran in the 3rd T20I
Former India wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel dissected how Kuldeep Yadav corrected his length and pace to get the better of Nicholas Pooran in the third T20I at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on Tuesday.
The in-form Caribbean batter was threatening to take the game away from India yet again, having settled in with a brisk start. He took on Kuldeep from the word go with a six and a brilliant reverse hit to the covers.
Pooran quickly raced to 20 runs of 11 deliveries and West Indies were also expecting to post a formidable total as they had wickets in hand. Kuldeep, however, dismissed the left-handed batter off the very first delivery of the 15th over.
Pooran missed the mighty slog altogether after the left-arm wrist spinner kept it flag and dragged his length back a bit. Sanju Samson collected the ball comfortably behind the stumps and completed the stumping.
Parthiv Patel praised Kuldeep for not holding back against a rampant Pooran.
"Kuldeep Yadav's double-wicket over was the turning point in the game. One over before, he was hit for a six and a reverse hit by Pooran. He had to change his length, he was bowling slightly full. But, when he came into bowl the next over, he quickly understood that and pulled his length back, and increased the pace and that did not allow Pooran to reach to the ball well. I thought he outfoxed him really well," he said on Cricbuzz.
"Once you get hit by someone as dangerous as Pooran, you might go into a defensive mindset, but Kuldeep did not. He went for Pooran's wicket and he got success doing that," Patel added.
The over turned out to be crucial as Kuldeep Yadav also chipped in with the wicket of the well-settled Brandon King. He eventually finished with figures of 3-28 off his four overs and was the pick of the Indian bowling unit.
"I think this should be the way forward for India" - Parthiv Patel vouches for an aggressive approach in T20Is
Despite the loss of early wickets, Team India stuck to their aggressive approach and it yielded results. Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav forged an 87-run partnership for the third wicket off just 50 deliveries. Both batters began their respective innings with a flurry of boundaries and made the most of the early momentum.
Parthiv Patel lauded Team India's strategy for the do-or-die encounter and said:
"I thought India were spot on with their planning. They used spinners really well, Spinners bowled four overs in the powerplay. Batting-wise, I thought the approach was brilliant, you may get out while trying to attack from the start, but that happens. I think this should be the way forward for India."
Team India claimed their first win of the five-match T20I series to make it 2-1. Both sides will now travel to the USA to play the final set of matches, which will be played on August 12 and 13.