West Indies were annihilated by India on the tour. Rohit Sharma & Co. whitewashed West Indies in both ODI & T20I series. Moreover, India regained the number 1 spot in the ICC T20i team rankings after 6 long years.
Since Rohit has taken the reigns of captaincy for full time from Virat Kohli, he has been undefeated now. First is a 3-0 T20i victory over New Zealand, followed by 3-0 each in the ODI and T20I series against the mighty West Indies. Rohit has showcased the full potential of his leadership skills, the way he rotates the bowlers and field placement was an exceptional thing, which depicts his experience of Mumbai Indians leadership.
There were many positives and negatives from the T20i series of India against the West Indies. We believe India should work closely on the negatives even though they remained undefeated throughout the tour. The negative should be converted into strength, keeping in mind the upcoming T20 World Cup that will be played in Australia later this year.
Points of Concern For Team India
1) Ishan Kishan Batting
Ishan Kishan who emerged as the most expensive player in IPL auction 2022 was certainly unable to find his flow in the T20i series. The explosive batter managed to score merely 71 runs in 3 matches at a strike rate of 85 and holding an average of 23.66. Ishan didn’t live up to his reputation in the series and going forward his place in the team will be doubtful.
2) Fielding
India is known as one of the best fielding sides, which have the safest pairs of hands when it comes to fielding. However, it was pretty average against the Caribbean side. There were crucial catch drops at the crunch moments of the game, for instance, Bhuvi dropping Rovman Powell’s catch in the 17th over of the game, Venkatesh Iyer also dropped a plethora of chances. Although the result remained unchanged even after that drop catches, it could certainly affect India’s match result in the future.
3) Yuzvendra Chahal
Yuzi Chahal was the pick of the bowlers against the West Indies. The leg spinner took only 2 wickets in 8 overs and leaked 65 runs. India has certainly found a better wrist-spinner Ravi Bishnoi, who also emerged as the player of the match in the 2nd T20i. Yuzi Chahal would need to perform exceptionally well in IPL to cement his spot in the playing XI for the upcoming T20I World Cup.
Positives From The Series
1) Suryakumar Yadav
Rohit has managed to bring out the best from Suryakumar Yadav’s batting down the order. SKY was also adjourned as the player of the series for his 107 runs in 3 matches at an average of 53.50. Moreover, SKY scored these runs down the order at an exceptional strike rate of 194, which proved to be a finishing inning.
2) Venkatesh Iyer
Venkatesh Iyer proved his metal worth in this series and could be an ideal replacement for Hardik Pandya. Iyer scored 92 runs at a strike rate of 184 and remained not out throughout the T20i series. Moreover, Venkatesh Iyer assisted the team with his bowling abilities too, as he managed to take 2 wickets in 3.1 overs in the series.
3) Ravi Bishnoi Bowling
The leg spinner was the find of the series. Ravi Bishnoi kept the Caribbean power under control as he maintained an economy under 6.5 in the series and took 3 wickets. However, the bowler didn’t take many wickets but certainly build pressure with his tight bowling length that resulted in breakthroughs for the team.
4) India’s Bowling
Even in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, India managed to defend the total twice in front of Caribbean power. This depicts India’s quality bench strength and how eager every player is to be on the field and perform for the nation. Although, India was exceptionally phenomenal while chasing the total earlier too while defending India lacked the same magic. However, this was not the case in this series as India managed to defend the total twice.
India looks super strong under Rohit’s leadership and needs to be on top of their game throughout the year to clinch the upcoming T20I World Cup in Australia.