The interim captain of Team India for the last two ODIs, Hardik Pandya, has asked West Indies Cricket to improve the facilities available to visiting teams in the future. The versatile player bemoaned the absence of “basic arrangements” on the current tour.
Expressing his disappointment with Cricket West Indies, Hardik Pandya after the game at the Brian Lara Stadium said that ‘This was one of the nicest grounds we have played. Things could be better the next time we visit the West Indies. From traveling to handling a variety of things.
Even Last year some problems occurred, I think it’s time for West Indies Cricket to take care of it and assure when a team travels. We don’t ask for luxury, but we need some basic necessities taken care of. Apart from that, really fun coming here and playing some good cricket.
The Indian cricket team had earlier complained to the BCCI about their late-night journey from Trinidad to Barbados being delayed by nearly four hours, leaving them exhausted before the opening ODI of the series.
Team India increased its lead as the team with the most straight bilateral ODI series victories over the Caribbean nations by continuing to dominate the West Indies. India triumphed by a large margin of 200 runs at Tarouba’s Brian Lara Stadium, taking the series 2-1. The nation last lost an ODI series to the West Indies by a score of 4-1 in 2006, which was 17 years ago.
In Rohit Sharma’s absence, Hardik took charge of the game. After struggling in the first two games, Hardik stormed to an unbeaten 52-ball 70 in the series-deciding third ODI. Hardik hailed Kohli for his assistance during their “wonderful” conversation.
In-form Ishan Kishan (77 off 64 balls) and Shubman Gill (85 off 92 balls) laid the groundwork for a huge total. While Hardik hit five sixes and four boundaries on a superb batting strip, Sanju Samson (51 off 41 balls) made a strong case for being selected as a backup middle-order batter.
The chase was never in doubt, as Mukesh Kumar’s three-wicket burst in the first powerplay with some excellent seam bowling shattered the West Indies’ dreams as they were dismissed for 151 in just 35.3 overs.
In the final ODI of the series, captain Rohit Sharma and previous captain Virat Kohli were once more given rest. Pandya talking about it stated that both players needed to be rested for the second and third ODIs against the West Indies in order to give India’s young players a chance to develop before the World Cup. A five-match T20I series between Team India and the West Indies will now begin on Thursday.
India’s T20 Squad – Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (vc), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya (c), Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Mukesh Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Avesh Khan.
