Mission T20 WC: Feisty India aim to seal series
Clinical in most aspects of the game so far, India will now hope that star batter Virat Kohli also regains his form when they take on a struggling West Indies in the potentially series-deciding second T20 International here on Friday.
The touring West Indies side has been far from being at its best and has failed to trouble the hosts in any of the matches so far. After being outclassed 0-3 in the ODI leg in Ahmedabad, the Kieron Pollard-led team was expected to give India some challenge in its favourite T20 format, especially after a 3-2 win over England in its last series at home.
But they hardly managed to trouble the hosts in the first T20I here on Wednesday, going down by six wickets. Another win and it will be a third successive series win for Rohit Sharma after being appointed the full-time captain for Team India.
The only concern for India has been Kohli’s form and he would definitely want a bigger knock than the scores of 8, 18, 0, and 17 so far in the assignment.
Rohit is confident that he would come good and has asked both critics and media to spare him the constant scrutiny. With Ishan Kishan looking ordinary and struggling to get going at the other end, Rohit made the bulk of the 58 runs that India scored in the powerplay, something that meant they never fell behind the 158-run chase despite losing three quick wickets in the middle.
Looking for their first win of the tour, it would be a make or break match for the Windies. They would look forward to the return of their pace bowling all-rounder Jason Holder who had to sit out of the first T20I following a niggle. For them, the lone bright spot on Wednesday was their vice captain Nicholas Pooran’s return to form with the bat.
With Holder back in business and Pooran and Pollard beginning to look at their ominous best, the West Indies would fancy their chances to keep the series alive. ‘We were clear with Shreyas... want all-round option’ Shreyas Iyer might have been the third-biggest buy at the IPL auction but to fit into India’s T20 combination, he would need to showcase all-round skills as that’s what the team is looking for in the middle-order slot, skipper Rohit Sharma has said.
“Someone like Shreyas Iyer is sitting out, very hard on him to be out and not making it to the XI, but it’s what the team requires. We need that option in the middle, someone who can bowl,” Rohit said, after India’s easy six-wicket win in the first T20 International on Wednesday.
“It’s always nice when you have those kinds of competitions going on,” he added. ‘We see something different in Bishnoi’ “Bishnoi is a very talented guy which is why we drafted him into the squad straightaway. We see something different in him. He’s got a lot of variations and skill-sets with him. He can bowl at any stage and it gives us a lot of options to rotate the other bowlers,” Rohit said.