India’s bowling battery had a terrible outing in the five-match T20I series against the West Indies which ended in a 2-2 draw
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Shreyas Iyer and head coach Gautam Gambhir desperately need to lift standards of Indian fielding(Photo: PTI)
Former India batter Mohammad Kaif has asked Indian T20I captain Shreyas Iyer to give greater importance to the bowling attack, claiming that the team cannot afford to focus on batting depth at the cost of specialist bowlersKaif’s comments came after the bowling unit struggled to contain West Indies in the five-match T20I series.
West Indies scored more than 240 runs in both their victories before the final match in BengaluruTheir performances exposed India’s problems with line and length, especially on flat pitches where bowlers have little room for error.
Kaif said India needed to build a stronger bowling unit and that Iyer should encourage his bowlers to attack rather than simply try to restrict the scoring.
“If you look at the 1983 World Cup final, we won due to our bowlingIn the 2011 final, we restricted Sri Lanka to 270 and wonIn the 2024 T20 World Cup final, we defended 170-odd against South AfricaSo, history says a good bowling team wins you trophies,” Kaif said on his YouTube channel.
He added that the captain had to take responsibility for building a reliable attack and could not keep compromising on bowling options to strengthen the batting.
“Shreyas Iyer has to make it clear to all bowlers that we need attacking bowling on such pitches where you cannot get away by looking to containYou only have to look to pick wicketsWe are not able to bring perfection and execution at the moment,” he said.
Kaif also questioned India’s frequent changes in the bowling departmentHe pointed to the inconsistent opportunities given to spinners Ravi Bishnoi and Kuldeep Yadav.
He used Zaheer Khan’s career as an example, noting that the former India pacer developed with experience and played a major role in India’s 2011 World Cup triumph after being part of the 2003 team.
Kaif said Kuldeep should also be backed despite occasional poor performancesAccording to him, attacking bowlers will sometimes concede runs, but dropping them repeatedly does not help them find consistency.
India vs West Indies T20I series ends in 2-2 draw
India and West Indies shared the five-match T20I series 2-2 after rain washed out the final match in Bengaluru on October 17Both teams won two games, but neither managed to take the series.
India started with a win, with Iyer scoring an unbeaten 102 off 43 ballsWest Indies levelled the series in Ranchi by chasing down India’s 249/5, their highest successful T20I chaseCaptain Shai Hope scored 102 off 45 balls, while Sherfane Rutherford added 84 off 37 deliveries.
India regained the lead in the third match, but West Indies responded in HyderabadHope scored another century as the visitors posted 247/3 and won by 24 runs, setting up a series decider.
The final match was reduced to nine overs per side after a long rain delayIndia reached 118/5 in 7.4 overs before rain returned and forced the match to be abandonedHope finished with 261 runs and was named Player of the Series.
