India vs West Indies 2019: 3 things we learned from the T20I series

After an underwhelming show in the second T20I at Thiruvananthapuram, Team India recovered by putting up a fantastic performance in the decider at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

After being put into bat by West Indies, the hosts amassed a massive 240 for 3 in their 20 overs. The trio of Lokesh Rahul, Rohit Sharma and skipper Virat Kohli starred for the team with blazing fifties. While Rahul top-scored with 91 from 56 deliveries, Rohit contributed 71 from 34 and Kohli smashed an unbeaten 70 from only 29 balls.

In response, West Indies crumbled to 17 for 3 early in the chase, and even though skipper Kieron Pollard smashed 68 from 39 and Shimron Hetmyer contributed 41 from 24, the team was always playing catch-up. The visitors eventually finished on 173 for 8.

Deepak Chahar and Mohammed Shami impressed with 2 for 20 and 2 for 25 respectively. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kuldeep Yadav also claimed two wickets apiece, but went for over 40 runs.

Here are three key takeaways from the India-West Indies T20Is.

#1. India are heavily reliant on top order

Virat Kohli and KL Rahul

The two games that India won in the series were on the basis of their superior batting ability at the top of the order. At Hyderabad, skipper Kohli smashed an unbeaten 94 while Rahul contributed 62 as India easily chased down 208.

At Mumbai, on the back of superlative half-centuries from Rohit, Rahul and Kohli, India posted 240.

However, in the second T20I at Thiruvananthapuram, when all the three failed to cross 20, the hosts struggled badly. Despite being 97 for 2 in the 11th over, they could only post 170 for 7.

While the roaring form of Rahul, Rohit and Kohli is heartening for India, it also raises serious question marks about the team when the trio fail to get going. It is a similar scenario to what played out in the 50-over World Cup, and we all saw how disastrous the semifinal turned out to be there.

#2. India’s fielding needs significant improvement

India dropped too many catches against West Indies

Although India went on to win the series 2-1, their fielding effort, particularly in the first two games, was abysmal. While they got away despite dropping a few catches in the opening T20I at Hyderabad -- including three in a row -- due to Kohli's heroics, the hosts were made to pay heavily at Thiruvananthapuram.

In the second game, two catches were put down in the fifth over bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, with both Windies openers Simmons and Lewis getting a reprieve each. Washington Sundar dropped a sitter at mid-off when Simmons was on 6. Two balls later, Rishabh Pant dived to his left, but failed to hold on to a catch from Lewis. He was 16 then.

Simmons went on to register an unbeaten 67 while Lewis scored 40 for the second consecutive match. By the time Shreyas Iyer dropped Nicholas Pooran in the 17th over, the match was well beyond India’s reach.

There was a missed chance at Mumbai as well. However, their catching overall was much better.

There is a lot of scope for improvement in this department. As Kohli admitted after the loss at Thiruvananthapuram, they are not going to win any games, irrespective of the total on the board, if they field like they did in the 2nd T20I.

#3. The pressure on under-performing Rishabh Pant will grow even further

Rishabh Pant has some serious catching up to do

Although Kohli has been backing Rishabh Pant to the hilt despite his failures, the pressure will be immense on the young wicket-keeper after yet another poor series. The team management gave the youngster an opportunity to prove his worth by promoting him to number three at Mumbai, ahead of Kohi. However, Pant wasted that chance as well, giving his wicket away by playing an attacking shot second-ball.

Pant registered scores of 18, 33 not out and 0 in the series. In the T20Is against South Africa, he made only 4 and 19. He failed to cross 30 against Bangladesh as well. After 26 T20Is, Pant is averaging a mere 20.45.

It hasn’t helped that his keeping skills haven’t been of the highest order. either. With Sanju Samson waiting in the wings, it remains to be seen how long India will keep backing Pant despite the obvious fact that his game needs some serious polishing.