Former India cricketer Dodda Ganesh came to current head coach Rahul Dravid's defence after Hardik Pandya-led Men in Blue lost the second consecutive T20I match against West Indies. Ganesh said that people should stop admonishing Dravid for India's successive defeats as he had no role in Hardik juggling the bowlers. Ganesh further added that it's easy to criticise Dravid because the Indian head coach doesn't say much in the media.
"Stop admonishing Rahul Dravid for every damn thing. He had no role in the captain juggling his bowlers today. Of late, Rahul has become a soft target only because he doesn’t say much in the media," Ganesh said in a tweet.
For the first time in 12 years, 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). The 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.
The onus is now on Hardik to lift up his players and make a comeback into the series. There are still three more matches to be played in the ongoing series and India would have to win all the game in order to secure a series win.
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