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The Indian playing XI for the second ODI against West Indies in Barbados on Saturday had a different look as regular captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were not part of it. Hardik Pandya stood in for Rohit, the skipper. “Few questions need to be answered for us, so Virat and Rohit are resting. They can be fresh for the third ODI. The way we bowled was impressive. The way we caught was great, it changed the momentum. I think when you get someone out for 115, it’s a good effort from the bowlers. Our catching was impressive, but we can improve in certain areas. Instead of losing five wickets, we could have lost only two wickets and finished the last game. Sanju Samson and Axar Patel come in for Rohit and Virat,” stand-in captain Hardik Pandya said at the toss.
However, Kohli was not out of action. He came onto the field as a ‘water boy’ when Kuldeep Yadav and Shardul Thakur were batting.
1 hi to hai, kitne baar jeetoge? King Kohli turns water boy!
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.#INDvWIAdFreeonFanCode #INDvWI pic.twitter.com/CYE2uvNAC2— FanCode (@FanCode) July 29, 2023
Meanwhile, Indian team management’s decision to rest skipper Rohit Sharma and premier batter Virat Kohli badly backfired as none of the World Cup hopefuls could cope with the pace, bounce and turn against the West Indies, managing a dismal 180 in 40.5 overs in the rain-hit second ODI on Saturday.
Losing five wickets for 23 runs in just 7.2 overs after an opening stand of 90 between Ishan Kishan (55 off 55 balls) and Shubman Gill (34 off 49 balls) became India’s undoing after the West Indies skipper Shai Hope opted to bowl.
The loss of momentum hurt India dearly but more than that, the rationale behind Rohit and Kohli’s forced break with only 10 months left before the big event, didn’t make much sense. Not to forget that the failures left more questions than answers.
There were two rain-delays but West Indies bowlers never let their intensity drop in an impressive display.
While Kishan, who will not open during World Cup, consolidated his case for selection as second wicket-keeper (provided KL Rahul gets fit for World Cup) with a second successive half-century, the same couldn’t be said about Sanju Samson (9 off 19 balls) and Axar Patel (1 off 8 balls).
Promoted as Nos 3 and 4 to keep the left-right combination going, both players struggled not only against short-ball tactic employed by Jayden Seales (1/28 in 6 overs), Alzarri Joseph (2/35 from 7 overs) and Romario Shepherd (3/37 in 8 overs) but also the grip, turn and bounce that spinners Gudakesh Motie (3/36 in 9.3 overs) and Yannic Cariah (1/25 in 5 overs) generated.
With PTI inputs
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