Venkatesh Prasad, a former India pacer, was not happy at all with India's choice of players for the first T20I against West Indies at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad. In the first game of the series, India chose Shreyas Iyer as their No. 3 batsman. This did not go over well with Prasad, who called the choice "strange." 'bizarre' as India had players like Sanju Samson, Deepak Hooda and Ishan Kishan in their arsenal. "Some of the selection calls keeping the upcoming World T20 in mind are worth pondering. Shreyas Iyer in T20 cricket when you have Sanju Samson, Hooda and Ishan Kishan in the team is bizarre. With Virat, Rohit and Rahul definite starters, need to work on getting the right balance," Prasad tweeted on Friday.
In the end, Obed McCoy got Iyer out for a four-ball duck after he got a leading edge on a delivery that stayed on line. The right-hander, on the other hand, hit two fifties in the ODI series against West Indies that just ended. When a fan pointed that out to Prasad, he said that Iyyer is a good choice in ODIs, but India has better players in T20Is than the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders right now.
"He is good in 50 over cricket. In T20 cricket, there are better players as of now who can get going from the word go. Shreyas will have to work hard on his skills for T20," Prasad replied.
The first T20I was won by India by a comfortable 68 runs, giving them a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. Rohit Sharma, the team's captain and one of the few first-choice players who didn't play in the ODIs, set the tone for his team's total with a top score of 64 off 44 balls, including seven fours and two sixes.
Dinesh Karthik then gave the innings a boost at the end by scoring 41 runs without being out in only 19 balls. In the last four overs, his unbroken 52-run partnership with Ravi Ashwin at seventh wicket seemed to drain the West Indies' energy in the hot midday sun.
Dinesh Karthik then gave the innings a late boost with an unbeaten 41 off of just 19 balls. His unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 52 with Ravi Ashwin in the last four overs seemed to drain the West Indies' energy in the hot midday sun.
Some of the selection calls keeping the upcoming World T20 in mind are worth pondering. Shreyas Iyer in T20 cricket when you have Sanju Samson, Hooda and Ishan Kishan in the team is bizarre. With Virat, Rohit and Rahul definite starters ,need to work on getting right balance.
— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) July 29, 2022
Iyer did good in past
— mohit (frustrated mba) (@dsom491) July 29, 2022
😳😳😳
He is just unlucky these days
Brooks's 20 was the best of a mediocre batting performance, leaving West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran to worry about another collapse by his team just two days after being beaten by 119 runs in the last match of the series.