3 lessons India should take from defeat to West Indies in 1st T20I

West Indies held their nerve and did just enough to beat India by four runs in the first T20I of the five-match series. On a track that was not easy to bat on, the West Indies bowlers employed their variations with precision and kept the Indian batting under check.

There were few moments of brilliance from the Indian team as well, but lack of batting depth and the inability of any one of their top order batters kicking on cost the visitors in the end. This is still a young batting order and captain Hardik Pandya expects his side to learn from the mistakes.

Here we take a look at three lessons India should take from defeat to West Indies in first T20I:

#3 Add batting depth

Sanju Samson walked in at number 6

Sanju Samson found himself batting at the No. 6 position, just below captain Hardik Pandya. Axar Patel walked in at number seven and there was no credible batting after that for the visitors. This put a lot of pressure on Axar and this can be one lesson for Hardik and Dravid moving ahead in the series.

In the end, the visitors were just one boundary away from winning the match and had another recognised hitter been out there, Axar would have taken this innings right down to the final over. Kuldeep Yadav at number eight can never be answer as the left-hander struggled to put bat to ball and this saw the required rate escalate.

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#2 Batting positions

Tilak Varma looked the best batter

Typically, Sanju Samson has been entering the T20 matches around the sixth over since 2021. However, in the first T20I, he was sent to the crease with just nine overs to spare. He did smack a few, but to expect him to quickly settle into an unfamiliar role might be a tough one.

While Tilak Varma looked a million dollars at number four, Sanju could have walked in ahead of Hardik since the captain is used to being a finisher in the past. Tilak too has been used in the final overs by Mumbai Indians in the IPL and he could have been a better option ahead of Sanju Samson.

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#1 Arresting a collapse

Axar Patel was the last hope with the bat

As the 15th over concluded, India needed 37 runs with six wickets remaining. Both Hardik and Samson were well settled at the crease, and the road ahead seemed fairly easy. However, this was when the match turned. The collapse began with Hardik's dismissal, as he played a cross-batted shot off Holder and got out.

Now, the next over was a maiden and amidst all this, Sanju Samson was run out while attempting a quick single.

Even though Kuldeep Yadav held the position of India's No. 8, he struggled to connect with the ball, leaving the team in a precarious situation. Axar Patel had a daunting task ahead, but the pressure proved too much for him to handle. Adding to the chaos, the team management made a baffling decision by miscalculating the batting order, with Chahal entering and leaving the field, only to be sent back again.

This is one area this team has to make amends and look for ways to arrest a collapse and soak in pressure in a much-better way.