West Indies vs India 2023 Twitter Reactions

‘Khela inse jaa nahi raha hai aur service inko 5 star chahiye’ - Fans react as India fail to chase 150 against WI in 1st T20I

In the first T20I, the Indian batting unit was unable to chase down the target of 150 runs against West Indies.

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Akshay
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‘Khela inse jaa nahi raha hai aur service inko 5 star chahiye’ - Fans react as India fail to chase 150 against WI in 1st T20I

Hardik Pandya (Source - Twitter)

publive-image Hardik Pandya (Source - Twitter)

The Indian team in the first T20I against West Indies at Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad lost by four runs. The Hardik Pandya-led side, despite restricting the home side to 149/6 could only manage 145/9. Although Tilak Varma, in his debut match, shined with 39 runs in 22 balls, including three sixes, Indian fans on Twitter showed their rage after the defeat in the first game against Pandya, who criticised the West Indies cricket board for poor management after the ODI series. 

Earlier in the match, West Indies skipper Rovman Powell won the toss and elected to bat first. The Indian team, full of youngsters, has two debutants on their side, Tilak Varma and Mukesh Kumar. While the Indies side batted first, they lost both their openers in the fifth over, Brandon King and Kyle Mayers. Although King scored 28 runs, after that, star left-handed batter Nicholas Pooran ( 41) and skipper Powell helped their side reach the 149-run mark. 

At one stage, it looked like the home side will score above 160 runs but Indian bowlers fought back with two wickets each for Arshdeep Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal Team India needed 150 runs to win the first T20I match. In reply, the Men in Blue lost both openers for single digits as Shubman Gill (3) and Ishan Kishan (6) were dismissed under the fifth over. 

Tilak Varma shined with his quickfire 39 runs in the first T20I

Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak together batted to stabilize the innings. The rookie batter was in full flow in his first game as he smashed the second and third balls in International cricket for six against Alzarri Joseph. Later, Varma was dismissed by Romario Shepherd in the last ball of the 10th over. 

However, Jason Holder, Obed McCoy, and Shepherd bowled well and brought West Indies back into the game. The experienced campaigner Holder bowled India skipper Pandya on 19; later, Sanju Samson was run out for 12. In the end, Arshdeep hit two boundaries in the 19th over to make the equation 10 runs to win in the last over, but Shepherd picked up two wickets and gave away five runs in the last over. 

After the game, Holder was awarded player of the match for his 2/19 figure in the first game. If we look at debutants' performances, Mukesh did not make any impact and went wicketless in his first T20I, but Tilak’s performance truly has given new hopes to the Indian side in terms of their search for a hard hitter in the middle order. Now for the second game in the five matches T20I series, India will face West Indies at Providence Stadium, Guyana, on August 6. 

Here's how fans reacted to India losing first T20 against West Indies:

 

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