West Indies Upset India to Level the Series

West Indies won the 2nd ODI between India and West Indies to level the series by 1-1. The team who which has not qualified for the World Cup have beaten India who are Favourites to win the World Cup.

India faced an insulting 6 wickets loss in the second ODI as they were favourites to whitewash the series from 3-0. 

Overview of the 2nd ODI Match between India and West Indies

West Indies chose to bowl first after winning the toss, India on the other hand tried to make some experiments. They rested Captain Rohit Sharma and Former Indian Captain Virat Kohli. Losing the toss, Indian stand-in captain Hardik Pandya said, They had to answer some questions.

Hardik Pandya mentioned that team was looking to bat first and see how much they could score batting first on the pitch which is a bit up and down. They added Axar Patel and Sanju Samson in the playing 11 instead of Virat and Rohit. 

India Scored 181 all out in 41 overs with Ishan Kishan scoring 55 and Shubhman Gill scoring 34. Replacements didn’t do much as Sanju Samson got caught on 9 runs and Axar Patel got out on 1 run with Romario Shepherd and Gudakesh Motie taking Three wickets each and Alzarri Joseph taking 2 wickets. 

West Indies chased down the target of 182 runs in just 36.4 overs with Shai Hope playing a great captain’s knock of 63 runs in 80 balls and Keacy Carty scoring 48 runs. 

Outcomes from the Match

There were talks about experimenting with Indian Batters especially Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson for that Wicket-keeper spot in the team for the World Cup 2024. The match showed the importance of experience. Indian batting collapsed against a non-qualified bowling lineup of the West Indies. 

Cricket Experts highlighted the value of veteran batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the current batting lineup of the Indian team for the world cup. India were favourites to Whitewash the series with 3-0 but they faced an insulting defeat from West Indies as they couldn’t hold their wickets.

The main debates were over India often giving rest to senior players in Bilateral series to give chances to youngsters instead they end up giving very little time to pillars of their team which backfires them in big tournaments such as World Cup. Experts said that India should show some consistent team selection ahead of the World Cup to try and test their best World Cup squad, as all the experiments of choosing the best squad should have been done by now. 

There were some funny facts during the match as India was playing with a lower run rate than England who was playing a Test match against Australia at the same time. 

Experts also criticised Hardik Pandya for poor captaincy by saying captaincy in the t20 format is much different from 50 over format. It has been the same story for Sanju Samson as well as he once again couldn’t prove his worth in the team. He has been dropping all the chances he has got.

Another concern for team India is the spot of number 4 for batting, leading contender Suryakumar Yadav last scored an ODI half-century 17 innings back. His alternative Shreyas Iyer is still recovering from his injury. So, the experts are saying it would be KL Rahul who will bat at number 4.

India will be looking to seal the series. The Third ODI between India and West Indies is on August 1. Rohit Sharma will be back to lead the side and Virat Kohli is expected to bat at 3 too.