Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter and analyst Mohammad Kaif expressed his disappointment with the Indian team management for prioritising batting depth in the fourth T20I against the West Indies in Hyderabad on Wednesday, October 14.
Delving into the details of the first innings, the West Indies posted an imposing total of 247/3 in 20 overs, thanks to Shai Hope’s unbeaten 102 off 50 with four fours and nine sixes at a strike rate of 204.
In the chase, India could score 223 before getting all out in 19.3 overs. Sanju Samson (56), Tilak Varma (43) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (41) were good with the willow, but couldn’t take the side over the winning line.
“Having batting till No.8 is not bravery. Bravery is playing your proper bowlers on a good batting wicket. A brave call is one where you pick seven batters and five proper bowlers, including Axar Patel as the all-rounder. Bravery is not allowing the opposition to score 250 and then saying we’ll chase it down. If you actually play with five main bowlers, you won’t need to chase so many. The flatter the conditions, the more specialist bowlers should play,” Kaif said on Cricbuzz.
Further, Kaif reckoned that India should have included the veteran wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav in the XI for the fourth T20I. While Kuldeep scalped 2/33 in the first T20I, he conceded 53 runs without picking a wicket in the second to be eventually left out of the XI for the next two fixtures.
“I would have played Kuldeep Yadav. Rashid Khan made a name for himself on this Hyderabad track only. The top 4 in the ICC rankings are all leg-spinners. So on a flat track, Kuldeep Yadav would have been even more useful. Just the change of pace and the extra bounce from the Hyderabad pitch would have assisted him. India could have easily dropped a batter and picked another bowler,” he added.
