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Pandya staring at Jaiswal call as batting depth comes under scrutiny - India's predicted XI for 2nd T20I vs West Indies
India's opening pair of Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan failed to make a mark in the first T20I.
India had reasons to be disappointed and positives to take away in the first T20I against the West Indies. While the obvious negative was the fact that they had lost by four runs, the positive was the way their bowlers played and Tilak Varma's impressive debut. Hardik Pandya's Team India had restricted the West Indies to a total of 149/6.
Arshdeep Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal took two wickets each while captain Hardik and Kuldeep Yadav got one apiece. Tilak contributed with two catches to dismiss the dangerous Johnson Charles and Nicolas Pooran, with the catch that dismissed the former being a bit of a screamer. Tilak was then India's highest scorer and the visitors looked set to reach the target comfortably while he was in the middle.
He scored 39 off 22 balls, hitting two fours and three sixes before falling to Romario Shepherd. While the West Indies did well to keep the big names in the Indian batting lineup silent, India were gravely hurt by the fact that their top order could not fire in the chase and that it was Kuldeep that walked in when they were just six wickets down.
Opener Ishan Kishan, who had scored half-centuries in all three matches in the preceding ODI series and in the second Test before that, fell for just six runs while Shubman Gill fell for three. Suryakumar Yadav, who is looking to rediscover his touch now that he is playing in the format in which he is recognised as the best batter in the world after his ODI struggles, fell for a run a ball 21.
Pandya and Samson both fell in one over bowled by Jason Holder which definitively turned the game in the West Indies' favour. While Pandya was cleaned up by the former West Indies captain on 19 off 19, Samson was run out two balls later for a run-a-ball 12.
Pandya is known to give his players a longer rope as captain and so he is likely to stick with the same XI as the one that played in the first T20I, unless conditions dictate otherwise. However, it is clear that if this doesn't work, it is likely that India may consider replacing either of Ishan Kishan or Shubman Gill, both considered among the brightest talents for the future, for another starlet - Yashasvi Jaiswal. In Guyana, though, it will most probably be Gill and Kishan walking out to open the batting for India; and one of Kuldeep, Chahal, Arshdeep or Mukesh walking out at No.6.
Openers: Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan (wk)
Middle order: Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson,
All-rounders: Hardik Pandya (C), Axar Patel,
Bowlers: Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar
