Who said what - top 4 expert reactions to India's 3-2 series defeat vs West Indies
India's multi-format tour of the Caribbean and the USA ended with a T20I series loss against West Indies. The team's frailities in the lower order and the rather insipid bowling performance came as a surprise as West Indies dominated them and clinched the five-match T20I series 3-2.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill could not repeat their heroics from the last match as they fell to the left-arm spin of Akeal Hosein. Suryakumar Yadav shone with a bright half-century, but he received no support from the other end.
Taking responsibility, captain Hardik Pandya shouldered the blame following his team's defeat in the series decider. India struggled to defend a target of 166 runs as Brandon King and Nicholas Pooran played with a lot of freedom.
Here is what the management and the cricket pundits had to say after the India vs West Indies match:
Hardik Pandya takes the blame - 'Failed to capitalize'
Speaking in the post-match presentation, Pandya said that he failed to cash in with the bat and his innings changed the complexion of the game. The captain stuggled to find any momentum and was dismissed for 14 off 18 balls and hit his only six off the 16th ball of the innings.
"If you see we lost that period post the ten overs. I came there, took my time, and was not able to capitalize. I think the boys played well but I failed to play accordingly at that point in time," Hardik said after the match.
'Lack of batting depth has to be addressed'
India's lack of batting depth has been the sore point all series and this was addressed by head coach Rahul Dravid after the match. He said that his side has to improve the batting depth with the 50-overs World Cup on the horizon.
“But going forward, we’ve got to look at certain areas in which we can get better. Finding depth in our batting has been an area we’re trying to address.
“As these games go on, scores are becoming bigger, even the West Indies had Alzarri Joseph coming in at number 11 and he can hit a mean ball. You have sides that have depth. We’ve got some challenges on that front.”
'Introspect instead of making silly statements': Venkatesh Prasad
Former pacer Venkatesh Prasad lashed out at the team after the side went down to a 3-2 series defeat in a five-match T20I series against the West Indies. Prasad said that the team did not display any hunger and fire.
"India has been a very very ordinary limited overs side for sometime now. They have been humbled by a West Indies side that failed to qualify for the T20 WC few months back. We had also lost to Ban in the ODI series. Hope they introspect instead of making silly statements #IndvWI."
'What about Sanju Samson?'
Aakash Chopra has raised concerns about India's decision to place Sanju Samson at the fifth batting position, considering that he was initially intended to fulfill the role of the sixth batter.
"Tilak Varma got out and India shuffled their batting once again. You asked Sanju Samson to bat at No. 5 this time and Hardik Pandya himself came at No. 6. He (Samson) played one or two good shots and then he got out."