3 biggest positives for India after T20I series loss against West Indies

West Indies dished out a clinical performance in the fifth and final T20I at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium in Lauderhill, Florida on Sunday. They comprehensively trumped India by eight wickets to take the series by a 3-2 margin.

Restricting the visitors to 165/9, the Windies made light work of the target, thanks to Brandon King's unbeaten 85 and a 35-ball 47 from Nicholas Pooran, who walked away with the Player of the Series honors.

It was admirable that India bounced back from a 0-2 deficit to take the series into a decider on the back of two resounding victories. But there's no doubt that they will be hurting at having lost a five-match T20I series for the first time in their history.

Yet, in the larger context of next year's T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the USA, there remain some positive takeaways from this series.

Let's look at the three biggest positives for Team India that have emerged at the end of this T20I rubber.

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#1 A top four seems to be taking shape for next year's T20 World Cup

The No. 4 issue might be plaguing India in ODIs due to a couple of key injuries but it seems like Tilak Varma has put it to rest in T20Is. Of course, it has meant that Suryakumar Yadav has moved up to No. 3, and with both batters leaving their mark on the series, that's a massive sign in the right direction for India.

The visitors will be disappointed with the lack of returns from their opening combination, with Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal enjoying one massive partnership in the fourth T20I and nothing on either side of it.

Ishan Kishan was left out for the last three games with Jaiswal replacing him and with a number of matches lined up in the format, the latter has ample opportunities to make that opening spot his own.

With Gill's mediocre tour likely to be an aberration, him partnering Jaiswal up top allows India to account for a number of matchups. With Jaiswal and Tilak adding left-handed variety while known to play spin brilliantly, it seems as though India's top order is taking good shape for the T20 World Cup on these shores next year.

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#2 Kuldeep Yadav's continued resurgence

Kuldeep Yadav has looked like a different bowler over the last 18 months or so. Ever since moving to the Delhi Capitals in IPL 2022, he hasn't put a foot wrong with his game evolving from strength to strength.

For someone who was too predictably slow through the air, he has certainly put in the hard yards on that front to up his speed. This, while also gaining better control over his length and not looking to buy wickets by tossing the ball into the slot.

The result is there to be seen - Kuldeep enjoyed a stellar T20I series with six wickets from four matches at an economy rate of exactly 6.00. Already the first-choice spinner in the ODI setup, he has well and truly established himself as the best white-ball spinner in the country at present.

His specialty also lies in adding a point of difference and variety in conditions that might be benign from a bowler's perspective. India will hope he continues to maintain this rhythm ahead of the ODI World Cup as well as next year's T20 World Cup.

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#3 Mukesh Kumar puts his hand up at the death

The Caribbean tour will go down as a memorable one in Mukesh Kumar's career. Having made his debut across all three formats and performed decently well, the Bengal seamer has shown promising potential to tap into.

Primarily a swing bowler, Mukesh often found himself not entrusted with the new ball. While he did bowl the second over on his T20I debut, he didn't have the best of starts and was directly summoned to bowl at the death.

He pulled things back admirably with a sleuth of attempted yorkers - something that would become the norm over the course of the series.

Mukesh might have ended with just three wickets at an economy rate of 8.80 in the series but the temperament he showed in executing his yorkers at the death goes beyond what the numbers suggest, comfortably outperforming Arshdeep Singh along the way.

With Mohammed Siraj not having played too many T20Is and Jasprit Bumrah having missed out on action for a good while, India needed someone to put their hand up.

The start has been an encouraging one for Mukesh, who will look to keep this going in the T20Is in Ireland as well as the Asian Games.

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What are the areas India need to work on in the build-up to the next T20 World Cup? Have your say in the comments section below!

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