The West Indies tour of India has come to a delightful end, with India emerging as the winner (2-1) by thrashing the visitors in the 3rd decider T20I. This entire series was quite entertaining as there was a dramatic turn of events, from Virat’s colossal performance to India’s sloppy fielding. All in all, the ‘Men in Blue’ defeated the ‘Men in Maroon’ by 67 runs. The home side learnt their lessons from their second match and bounced back with power and grit at the Wankhede Stadium for the ultimate deciding match. With this, MyTeam11 brings to you three talking points from the recently concluded T20I series between India and West Indies. Let’s take a look.
Virat Kohli was at his brutal best
Indian captain Virat Kohli set the field ablaze with his record-breaking knocks in the series. In the first match, he made his highest T20I score ever – the unbeaten 94-runs off 50 balls – which perfectly orchestrated India's chase of 208. The third match brought another opportunity for him to blow the minds away of his opponents.
He hit one of the T20 innings of his career i.e. 70 runs from just 29 balls, which consisted of 4 fours and seven sixes. His sixathon stunned the spectators and made people wonder if he has some superpowers! Virat might not have been an active player in the shortest format, but this series was the game-changer as he proved that he has hunger for runs, irrespective of the format. In fact, he touched the milestone of reaching 1000 runs at home in the shortest format.
India’s fielding was worrisome in 2nd Match
The second match brought with it a sorry day for Indian team as the sluggish efforts from bowlers ruined the whole game. The match saw a couple of misfields and the likes of Washington Sundar, Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant fumbling on the field on major occasions.
Ravindra Jadeja, who is considered one of the best fielders, dropped the sitters several times because of his casual field approach. The disappointing bowling action helped WI opener Lendl Simmons struck an unbeaten 67, contributing to a resounding total of 207 on the board.
Also Read: IS VIRAT KOHLI THE MOST UNDERRATED T20I PLAYER?
Big gun Ro-Hitman was in an upsetting form in Hyderabad
Lately, opener Rohit Sharma has been busier than Kohli on the field in 2019. His performance in Hyderabad was not-so-impressive. However, he made up for it in the last and final match with his fearless batting in Mumbai. He partnered with KL Rahul and attained 71 runs off 34 balls. In fact, he and Virat Kohli will end the year as the joint top-run scorers in men’s T20I cricket with 2,633 runs each.
While Rohit has established himself as well-known player in the 50-over format, he still remains under the shadows in the shortest format. As the stats suggest, he has an overall average of 25 in T20Is with a mediocre strike-rate of 128.96. As India aims to give their best shot in the coveted World T20 trophy in Australia, Rohit needs to rest and focus on giving India a terrific start in the powerplays.
