How No. 1-ranked India lost T20I series to West Indies who couldn’t even qualify for back-to-back World Cups

“Losing is good at times,” Captain Hardik Pandya said after India were comfortably outclassed by 8 wickets in the fifth and final T20I of a 5-match series against the West Indies in Trinidad on Sunday, August 13. It was Hardik’s first defeat as captain a T20I series. It was India’s first bilateral series defeat since the tour of Sri Lanka in 2021. Also, it was India’s first defeat in a 5-match T20I series.

Head coach Rahul Dravid, much like Hardik Pandya, conceded that the team was disappointed but added that the team management will not look too much into it and highlighted the positives of the tour on Sunday.

It can be easy to brush this loss aside as a blip in otherwise good showings in bilateral tours. However, questions have to be asked of the team management as India went down without a fight in the 5th and final T20I.

India were 0-2 in the T20I series after the first two games as they were stunned by a more determined West Indies side. In Trinidad and Guyana in the first two T20Is, it was India’s batting failure combined with the brilliance of Nicholas Pooran that was instrumental in West Indies sealing the early momentum. India did well to bounce back in the 3rd and 4th T20Is, riding on Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma’s brilliance. However, in the final T20I, the young Indian side was not able to pull off what it did in the ODI series – win the decider.

Also Read: India’s T20I weaknesses exposed

West Indies, on the other hand, should have gained a lot of confidence from the series victory. It was the first step toward bigger things under the new leadership group of coach Darren Sammy and captain Rovman Powell, who stepped up and delivered for the team in a crisis.

India, the No. 1-ranked T20I team, went down to West Indies, who have not made it to the ODI World Cup later this year and missed out on a T20 World Cup finals berth in Australia last year.

Was it overconfidence from the Indian team?

When Hardik Pandya was asked about the prospect of losing the deciding ODI and ending a sensational 17-year-long streak for India against the West Indies, the stand-in captain irked quite a few with his comments. “It is okay, I like to be unique,” he added. Fortunately, India went on to win the deciding ODI but the T20I series was lost.

Hardik Pandya has been treading the thin line between confidence and complacency. The India skipper has to be lauded for his outlook on the field, constantly trying to rev up his young teammates. However, from the outside, it feels as if a few things are being taken too casually.

Results matter and Hardik ended the West Indies tour with a 3-4 result as captain.

OBSESSION WITH PROCESS?

“Winning and losing is a part of the process and we are going to make sure we learn from that,” Hardik Pandya said after India lost the the deciding T20I on Sunday.

Former India fast bowler Venkatesh Prasad tore into the comment, saying the word ‘process’, which was made famous by MS Dhoni during his India captaincy tenure, is being used loosely without actually following any process.

India, of course, handed out opportunities to youngsters. As many as 3 players, including Tilak Varma, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Mukesh Kumar, made their debuts.

CONSTANT CHOPPING AND CHANGING

However, the manner in which captain Hardik Pandya went about managing his resources when under pressure was far from impressive.

India played an extra all-rounder in Axar Patel to strengthen their batting order but the left-arm spinner got only 11 overs. He did not bowl in a T20I and got only an over in the final T20I on a pitch that was assisting slow bowlers. It was hard to understand whether Axar Patel was used as a batting all-rounder or bowling all-rounder.

Yuzvendra Chahal gave away 51 runs in his 4-over spell in the final T20I. His confidence took a blow after having been shuffled around. When he picked up wickets in the powerplay, he was not given an opportunity to complete his quota. When he picked up 2 wickets in a decisive over in the 2nd T20I, he was not given another over and an opportunity to kill the West Indies chase off.

A senior bowler like Yuzvendra Chahal certainly needed more backing from his captain.

BATTER HARDIK MISSING

Has Hardik Pandya forgotten his responsibility as a batter in T20Is? Since the start of 2023, the captain has managed just 188 runs in 11 matches. He has averaged less than 30 and has gone past the 30-run mark only once.

It’s not as if Hardik Pandya hasn’t got enough opportunities at the top. The skipper has been batting at No. 5 and No. 6 but has been failing to deliver.

In the deciding T20I on Sunday, Hardik batted out 18 balls for his 14. He was 6 off 16 before he hit a six. He was dismissed the very next delivery. Hardik was batting with a well-set Suryakumar Yadav but did little to help the momentum of the team after winning the toss and opting to bat. India managed 165. It was gunned down in just 18 overs.

RAHUL DRAVID UNDER THE LENS

Much like Parthiv Patel pointed out in a recent interview, Rahul Dravid has been far from being proactive. Some of the selection calls have been questionable and the usage of resources has been even more woeful.

India take pride in having an assembly line of young cricketers. India’s second-string and third-string teams have more quality than many of their rivals. However, under Rahul Dravid, India seems to have a lack of clarity.

Why were Umran Malik and Avesh Khan in the squad when they were not going to get opportunities? Why did India not play an extra batter despite knowing they had a long tail?

“It’s a young team, it’s a developing team,” Dravid said while playing down the significance of the T20I series defeat.

Yes, a young team needs to be allowed opportunities to learn from mistakes.

On the other hand, Rohit Sharma, speaking to the press in a recent interaction, said the seniors, including him, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, are not out of the scene in T20Is and attributed their absence to workload management.

Do India have a clear plan in terms of preparing for T20 World Cup 2024? Unfortunately, ‘no’ seems to be the answer.