As West Indies won the fifth and final T20I on Sunday by a commanding eight-wicket margin, Team India collapsed in Florida. The series, which was tied at 2-2 going into the decisive game, was won by the Windies with the victory.
Indian captain Hardik Pandya remarked that sometimes losing is beneficial after the defeat. Even while that might be the case, he and his group made a number of dubious choices that caused them to lose their first bilateral series to the Windies in 17 years. After the defeat, the fans as well as cricketing experts all over the world started questioning his conduct in using the resources that he had for the series. Apart from rotating the bowlers, the fielding positions as well as attitude after the loss were also under the scanner by many fans.
Let us look at the reasons why Hardik Pandya’s captaincy failed in the T20I series against West Indies:
1. Not utilizing the pacers appropriately
In the fifth T20 match, it was pretty much evident that the pace bowlers were underutilized. In the fifth T20I, Arshdeep Singh was given just two overs, whereas Mukesh Kumar was given just one over. It is also interesting that in the entire T20 series, Mukesh never bowled his entire quota of four overs. Also, one should consider that his role in the team is of a death bowler.
A large portion of responsibility for the same rests with the skipper, Hardik Pandya. During the entire series, Hardik’s bowling variations were all over the place. Axar Patel was utilized without any serious thought, and for some reason, Mukesh Kumar ascended as an expert death bowler. Rarely did Arshdeep Singh bowl his allotted number of overs.
2. Batting form of the captain himself
Several times, Hardik threw himself into the fray on a whim. Yuzvendra Chahal was utilized in the powerplay, in which he has never been successful, in order to play ahead of the stronger Ravi Bishnoi. Throughout the five-match series, Umran Malik and Avesh Khan warmed the bench.
Even with his horrifying performance in the final game excluded, Hardik’s performances with the bat fell short. He was unable to clear the boundary and end innings by managing 77 runs in four innings at an average of 25.66 and a strike rate of 110.
3. Underutilization of Axar Patel
One of the main topics of discussion among cricket analysts and fans was why, if Axar Patel was playing in the squad, the left-arm spinner wasn’t getting a chance to bowl. Patel bowled beautifully in the powerplay of the fourth and third T20Is, even taking significant wickets from top-order hitters. To everyone’s astonishment, Axar wasn’t added to the assault until the 15th over of the West Indies innings in the fifth T20I.