“We didn’t bat as well as we could have” - Rahul Dravid reflects on T20I series loss to West Indies

Team India head coach Rahul Dravid admitted that batting led the side down in the five-match T20I series against West Indies, which the visitors lost 2-3. He, however, refused to be too critical of the players, stating that the squad comprised a lot of young guys who are still in the learning phase.

The Men in Blue did well to come back from a 0-2 deficit to take the series into the decider. However, their batting faltered in the must-win game on Sunday in Florida. Batting first after winning the toss, they were held to 165/9. Brandon King then slammed 85* off 55 balls as West Indies chased down the score in 18 overs.

Speaking at a press conference following India’s loss in the fifth T20I, Dravid admitted that India made quite a few mistakes, particularly in the batting department.

“We did well to come back from 0-2 down, but we just couldn’t close out the series. We made a few mistakes along the way. If you look at all the five games, there were some mistakes that we made. In the first couple of games, and even today probably, we didn’t bat as well as we could have. But that can happen. It’s a young team, a developing team. So, there are going to be times when we are going to have our ups and downs,” Dravid said.

The Indian legend, however, credited West Indies for putting up a clinical effort, adding that the visitors will take back plenty of learnings from the defeat.

“Of course, we are disappointed. We would have liked to have gotten the right result. To be able to come from 0-2 down would have been very special. But, credit to the West Indies. They are a good T20 side. They are playing in their home conditions. They played particularly well. Well done to them and lot of learnings for us,” Dravid conceded.

Romario Shepherd led West Indies’ bowling effort in the decider, registering figures of 4/31, while Akeal Hosein and Jason Holder claimed two scalps each.

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“We were looking to try out a few things with the World Cup and the Asia Cup coming up” - Dravid

Looking back at the entire West Indies tour, Dravid asserted that he was satisfied with the Test performances, although weather preventing a result in the second game was disappointing.

On the ODIs, he added that they were looking to experiment in a few areas keeping the World Cup and the Asia Cup in mind.

“Obviously, very pleased with the Test match. A little bit disappointed that we couldn’t force a result in the second one due to rain and weather. We lost a few points there, but we played really well to get that result,” Dravid commented.

“The one-dayers were good as well. We were looking to try out a few things with the World Cup and the Asia Cup coming up - a couple of big one-day tournaments. The goals of that series were slightly different - what we were trying to achieve. We learnt some good lessons from that one-day series and got the right result,” the 50-year-old concluded.

While India lost the T20I series by a 2-3 margin, they won the Tests 1-0 and the ODIs 2-1.