5 Talking Points from 1st T20I between India and West Indies in the USA

Contrasting approaches to leadership and lines followed by bowlers

Ravindra Jadeja bowled 3 overs only, but his 3^rd over was one of the most effective

In the 9^th over, Virat Kohli walked up to the bowler Ravindra Jadeja, explicitly advising him on the line and length to bowl to the batsmen, who were hitting everything out of the park. Jadeja followed up with a wide ball pitched up, evidently trying not to get hit for a six, providing a clue to what Kohli’s emphatic hand gestures had meant .

Captain MS Dhoni was quieter in his approach to dictating the game, frequently seen having words with his arms around the shoulder of his bowler, who was inevitably getting hammered.

Dhoni’s advice seemed to be to bowl more on the middle stump line – Mohammed Shami got a first breakthrough with a low full toss turned yorker on the wicket. Ashwin’s 3^rd over cost only 4 runs, deliveries bowled on the stump line. In the last 5 overs, only 46 runs were conceded, cheap returns in the context of the game. Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar too seemed to find more relief when they did not stray from the stump line in the last overs.