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For the first time in 12 years, Team India sustained back-to-back defeats against West Indies, the latest of which came in the second T20I at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on August 6 (Sunday). Hardik Pandya-led Men in Blue ended up losing the game by two wickets after making a comeback into the game by picking up wickets at regular intervals. Akeal Hosein and Alzarri Joseph registered a 26-run partnership for the ninth wicket and rolled out Men in Maroon's road to victory.
Batting first, India could only manage to score 152/7 in 20 overs despite Tilak Varma scoring 51 runs off 41 balls with the help of five fours and one six. Skipper Hardik played a cameo of 24 runs off 18 balls with the help of two sixes that helped India post a defendable score on the board. As it turned out, even 152 runs were not enough for the Men in Blue.
Veteran leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal brought India back into the contest by picking two big wickets in the 16th over. Yet, Hardik's decision to bowl Chahal any further in the game shocked several onlookers. Former India cricketers came down hard at Hardik as they were 'baffled' by the captain's decision-making.
Former India batter Wasim Jaffer was surprised that Hardik didn't give Chahal another over despite the leg-spinner turning the game on its head with two wickets in one over. Jaffer was also perplexed by Hardik's decision to give Axar Patel a chance to bowl in the second T20I.
"Very surprising, especially Chahal not bowling his fourth over and Axar not bowling even one over. I am kind of surprised, because everyone thinks that Hardik is the next leader of Indian white ball cricket and for him to not show faith in Yuzvendra Chahal and Axar Patel is a little surprising. The guy who bought you in the game (Chahal) and for you to not trust him in the fourth over shocks me. He could have probably finished the game. I am as surprised as everybody right now," Jaffer said on ESPNCricinfo.
"I am also very, very surprised. I thought he bowled the 18th over (16th), but he should have definitely bowled the 19th over," Jaffer further added.
Former India batter Abhinav Mukund also struggled to find a logical explanation for Hardik's baffling decision-making that played a role in India's defeat against the Men in Maroon on Sunday.
"I can't get an explanation for it because 10 times out of 10 you would have gone with another over from Chahal and tried to close out the game there, especially with Alzarri Joseph there. I understand the left hander is still there, but you got Hetmyer out in the previous over, bowling a full one. You have the bigger boundary to deal with. I was just a bit baffled by that decision to go back to Arshdeep because he is your strike bowler. If you wanted to bowl him, you could have had him bowl the 19th, left the last over to Mukesh or even brought Arshdeep for the final over, depending on the number of runs," Mukund said on JioCinema.
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