Indian cricket team suffered a shock four-run defeat in the first T20I match against West Indies on Thursday, August 3. India's inconsistent run in the white-ball series continues as they failed to make any impact while chasing only 150 runs at Brian Lara Stadium.
Tilak Varma and Mukesh Kumar made their T20I debuts as the management fielded an inexperienced side for the first game. Indian openers Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan struggled to produce a good start for India but Tilak smashed 39 off just 22 to make an immediate impact.
But India's middle order consisting of Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, and Sanju Samson was to blame for failing to make any contribution in the middle overs. Hardik pointed out that his team was in control of the game for the majority of the time but said that losing wickets in a row cost India a game.
"We were right in the chase. We made some errors which cost us, but it is fine. A young team will make mistakes. Throughout the game, we were in control. I have always believed that in T20 cricket if you lose wickets, it becomes difficult to chase down a total. When we lost a couple of wickets [in a row]... it cost us," Hardik said during the post-match presentation.
Meanwhile, Indian bowlers were brilliant in the first innings to restrict the hosts to just 149 runs. Debutant Mukesh didn't get any wickets but he conceded no boundary during his two-over spell in the death overs. Hardik praised both Mukesh and Tilak for making a considerable impact on their debuts on Thursday.
The bowling combination [of three spinners] was down to the conditions. We wanted Yuzi and Kuldeep to play together, and Axar brings batting. For Mukesh to have these two weeks and make his debut was fantastic. Very pleasing to see the way Tilak started his innings," Hardik added.
