India vs Windies 2018, 3rd T20I: 3 unnoticed things from the match

Cricket finally returned to the spirited city of Chennai as the MA Chidambaram Stadium stood in splendour to host the last home match for team India in 2018. Windies won the toss and put team India into bat presuming that the pitch would play slower in the second innings of the game.

Despite the game being a dead rubber, Team India didn’t tinker too much with the playing eleven and had just two expected changes, bringing in spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar in place of rested players Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav.

Captain Carlos Brathwaite’s words at the toss of gifting a victory to the Carribean people resonated with the way how the Windies went about things with the bat as they posted an impressive target of 182 on a slow and sluggish pitch. The margin for error was minimum as Nicholas Pooran and Darren Bravo went on a rampage.

India’s chase started off on the wrong note as they lost skipper Rohit Sharma and Lokesh Rahul quite early in the chase. Shikhar Dhawan and Rishabh Pant took India to a comfortable position before the game was eventually carried onto last-ball thriller.

So let us have a look at some of the things that might have gone unnoticed:

#1 Chahal back amongst wickets

Team India chose to play all-rounder Krunal Pandya in the first two games against Windies as Yuzvendra Chahal lost his place in the eleven as collateral to team balance. However, with Kuldeep Yadav being rested for the final T20I, Chahal was back into the fray of things.

Although he didn’t get to bowl in the powerplay like he usually does, Chahal made an immediate impact as he broke the opening partnership between Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer off his very first ball. Hope ballooned a skier as he opted for the good old slog. Chahal further came back to finish unfinished business second his second over to remove Hetmyer. The two wickets put Chahal ahead of Kuldeep as the leading wicket-taker for India in T20Is in 2018. He played the role of the primary spinner to perfection bowling much slower in the air compared to his other colleagues and ended up with figures of 4–0–28–2.

#2 Nicholas Pooran powers Windies to a competitive target

Windies looked in a spot of a bother as they lost their third wicket when Ramdin pulled one back onto the stumps trying to cut a flatter delivery off Washington Sundar. Out came Carribean Premier League prodigy Nicholas Pooran. His free-flowing stroke play and innovative shots were on display throughout the innings. His 25-ball 53, third fastest 50 for a Windies player against India included four sixes and four fours.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Khaleel Ahmed faced the major brunt of Pooran’s fury. However, Pooran’s power-hitting ability was on display as he pulled a switch-hit to one of the short deliveries from Chahal to deposit it into the stands.

Apart from his impeccable timing of the ball which helped the Windies in setting a decent target, the timing of this brilliant knock can also prove to be quite effective in making a case for himself with the IPL auctions around the corner.

#3 Southpaws steer India whitewash the Windies

Shikhar Dhawan's draught for a big inning finally came to an end as he brought up his eighth-half century in T20Is and his first against the Windies. Dhawan won his initial battle against Oshane Thomas, scoring three fours and a six, after being dismissed by him thrice in the tour so far. His decisive footwork and hand-eye coordination were the trademarks of his inning. Dhawan also renewed his high-score of 90.

Rishabh Pant was another southpaw who finally made his presence felt in limited overs cricket after two forgettable outings. Pant scored his maiden T20I half-century and became the second youngest Indian to do so. Pant’s innings featured raw power as he clubbed and heaved the slower balls.

Pant’s innings was very important in the context of his career with team India looking for a probable backup to Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the shortest format of the game.