Team India endured a five-wicket loss to West Indies in the second T20I of the series in Basseterre. It was a poor outing with the bat for India, as the side was bowled out on merely 138 before the bowlers put out a brilliant fight, eventually conceding a defeat in the final over of the match.
While Obed McCoy starred with a six-wicket haul for the hosts, Brandon King smashed a half-century while Devon Thomas remained unbeaten on 31 off 18 balls to secure a win for the hosts and level the five-match series 1-1.
In a surprise, India captain Rohit Sharma gave the final over to Avesh Khan with the Windies needing 10 runs to win. Bhuvneshwar Kumar had two overs remaining in the game and the fans were particularly critical of the decision. While Rohit explained following the game that the decision was taken to test the youngsters in troubled waters, the experts continued to debate over the call.
Former India wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel was in support of Rohit’s decision, but as the conversation moved to India’s bowling lineup, the ex-India star admitted he was surprised with the absence of a certain bowler in the squad – Mohammed Shami. The 31-year-old star hasn’t appeared in a T20I since the World Cup last year, but remains an integral part of the Test and ODI setup.
“When Bhuvi is playing, he has to bowl 2 overs up front. Then there’s Bumrah and Arshdeep. I am still surprised why they are not considering Mohammed Shami as a new ball bowler. Harshal has done well.. but if you look at Dinesh Karthik’s performance in IPL, he got picked for India. Mohammed Shami’s performance in the IPL was even better, as a bowler. He won them the trophy, he picked wickets for Gujarat Titans,” Parthiv said on Cricbuzz.
“It may not be a bad choice. Yes, it might be the same team as the T20 World Cup last year, but these guys have become better. Bhuvi has become better from the last World Cup, same with Shami. He is bowling well with the new ball. We say that Shami hasn’t bowled well in death overs, but he has improved that at Punjab and Gujarat (in IPL),” the former India star further added.