India, who won the first ODI against the West Indies with great difficulty, lost badly in the second ODI. With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli rested, Team India led by Hardik Pandya were bowled out for 181 runs in 40.5 overs. West Indies came into the ring with a small target.. Shai Hope (63 not out), KC Carty (48 not out) and Kyle Meyers (36) excelled and lost 4 wickets and reached the target in 36.4 overs. With the defeat in the second ODI, India’s streak of consecutive victories (9) against the West Indies has come to an end.
India is doing excessive experiments during the West Indies tour, especially in the ODI series. In the first ODI, Rohit batted at the seventh position in the short target.. Virat Kohli did not come to bat at all. In the second ODI, both of them were rested by the Team India management. And then the question arises as to what is the need to send them on the actual West Indies tour.
Former cricketer Wasim Zafar expressed his impatience with Kohli and Rohit being rested in the second match. ‘West Indies played well… kept the hopes of the series alive. It remains to be seen whether Rohit and Kohli will be in the team in the series decider. If they play in the third ODI, what answers will the team management get in just one match..?’ Jafar asked.
Netizens and Indian cricket fans are reacting to Zafar’s tweet. As the head coach of Rahul Dravid, the Indian team lost the Asia Cup, WTC Final and T20 World Cup. Bangladesh lost the ODI series. Lost the last Test against England. South Africa lost the Test series. And now Asia Cup, ODI Cup..? A netizen replied. Another netizen made harsh comments that looking at the way Team India’s management is preparing for the 2027 World Cup instead of the 2023 World Cup.
There are reasons why fans are so fired up. The World Cup is just a short time away. Will India play ten ODIs in the meantime? In that case, keeping the World Cup in mind, the team should be prepared from now. Clarity is needed on which player to play in which position. It is very important to play with players who want to work without going into unnecessary experiments due to the short time. Players like Rohit and Kohli are not even playing T20s. They play only Tests and ODIs. So they should be played as many ODIs as possible. But resting them ahead of the World Cup and experimenting head and tail in the batting order is far-fetched.
Juniors should be given opportunities in the team instead of seniors. But the timing is not right. After the World Cup, there will be a lot of time. Then the juniors can be given chances in as many matches as needed and they can be prepared according to the needs of the team. Even before the last T20 World Cup and Asia Cup, the Indian management preferred to test the players instead of a specific playing eleven. The experiment went awry. However, the team management still does not refrain from unnecessary experiments. Cricket fans are demanding that Rahul Dravid should be removed from the post of coach immediately. Shikhar Dhawan, a left-handed opener with a good track record in ICC tournaments, was captained in several tournaments before the Asia Cup. Now there is no place in the final team. What is all this is beyond the reach of the average fan.