5 reasons why India succumbed to a loss against West Indies

After being 2-0 up in the series, India were expected to win the remaining two games as well. But a resurgent West Indies side had other ideas as they made a comeback in the series courtesy a brilliant 11-run win against Kohli’s men on Sunday. They decided to make first use of the wicket after Holder called right for the fourth successive time in the series.

The Caribbean opener’s started vigilantly, trying to build an innings after having sussed the pace of the wicket. Both did well to raise 50 runs for the opening stand though the innings run rate was just 3 runs an over. They wanted to up the ante which brought Kyle Hope and Evin Lewis’ downfall. The rest three to follow – Shai Hope, Chase and Mohammad – got off to starts but couldn’t build on them as each of them crossed 20 but fell to average shots.

India lost two early wickets but Rahane was firm at one end. The right-hander recorded his fourth consecutive fifty-plus score in the series but fell just when India looked like overhauling the target without any discomforts. Late wickets coupled with accurate bowling on the slow pitch of the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium kept the game in the balance until Dhoni, after seeing wickets falling around him, went for a big one which brought his downfall.

Let’s have a look at the 5 reasons why India floundered in an easy chase of 190:

1) Top order collapse

Low scoring games are often tricky when the side chasing loses two quick wickets to the new ball. Shikhar Dhawan was the first one to fall, handing a simple catch to mid-on as he hit an on-drive a little early than he should have. Kohli followed suit in the 6th over, which brought comeback man Dinesh Karthik to the crease. Playing in his first ODI after more than three years, Karthik took 14 balls to get off the mark before he skied a pull to be dismissed for just 2. At 47/3, India were in trouble. Rahane had done the bulk of the scoring till then and was looking very solid but was running out of partners.

2) Virat Kohli falling prey to a short ball again

Skipper Kohli fell to his opposite number for the second time in as many games. The No. 3 batsman has been peppered with short balls early in his innings in the entire length of the series so far during which Kohli hasn’t looked comfortable at all. In the previous game, played at the same venue, Holder troubled Kohli with two rising deliveries, one of which was caught brilliantly by the gully fielder. This time the 28-year old was ready to take Holder on. Holder bowled a bouncer outside off and Kohli, maybe because of his last match’s dismissal wanted to make a statement, tried to hook but could only manage a top edge which was latched by the keeper comfortably. With the amount of runs he has scored in international cricket, India expected a better performance from their skipper against an average West Indies attack.

3) Ravindra Jadeja’s approach with the bat

Jadeja’s performance in ODI cricket in the last 18 months has been lax with both bat and ball. He could have taken India home in Dhoni’s company but he chose to slog his way out of the situation. When he walked out to bat India needed 31 to get from 29, very achievable despite the slow nature of the pitch. All Jadeja had to do was to look for the ones and the twos but the all-rounder, after getting to 11 off 10, wanted to finish it off in style. He drilled one straight down the throat of the long-on fielder to leave India needing 17 from 15 to win with just three wickets in hand. Jadeja has made 135 ODI appearances since making his debut in 2009 and should have shown more maturity during a tricky chase.

4) Dhoni’s crawl

MS Dhoni won a lot of accolades for his match winning 78* the other day but drew flack for his Test-like knock of 54. He registered the slowest ODI fifty by an Indian since 2001, taking 108 balls to reach the milestone. Dhoni was content in playing the anchor’s role relying first on Rahane, then Pandya and Jadeja to take the charge. He battled through the Indian chase but once he ran out of partners, the asking rate had surged to over 8 runs an over in the last two overs. From becoming a hero, suddenly he faced the wrath of several experts for his 114-ball 54. In hindsight, maybe Dhoni shouldn’t have taken it until the end. A more positive approach during the middle over could have seen India get home earlier.

5) Jadhav and Pandya’s failure

Both of them haven’t got many chances with the bat in the series but this was a game where India needed them to fire. Jadhav needs to realise that No. 6s and 7s are the first ones to be dropped in case of a collective failure as a batting unit. The crucial knocks that he has played in the past are easily forgotten. He has had an outstanding knock with the bat this year but he needs to stand up when the top order fails on the day. Pandya too must be more consistent with the bat. He injected momentum in the chase but played one shot too many when the asking rate was just 6.2 runs per over. The duo needs to learn to finish such tricky games if they want to further evolve themselves as finishers.