India registered a resounding 44-run victory against West Indies in the second ODI, and with the win, under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, Team India has sealed the series victory by taking an unassailable lead of 2-0. After being asked to bat first, India suffered early blows in the batting innings as they lost the wickets of Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, and Virat Kohli in the first 12 overs itself. 

KL Rahul (49) and Suryakumar Yadav (64) made a brilliant partnership of 91 runs to help India from further collapse, but the Men in Blue kept on losing wickets at crucial junctures and were restricted to 237/9 in their quota of 50 overs. India lacked the service of a good finisher down the order, and Rishabh Pant opening along with Rohit Sharma made things even worse for the hosts during the final overs as they failed to finish the innings well.

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Meanwhile, Sunil Gavaskar stated that he was surprised to see Pant coming out to open the innings rather than playing the finisher role for Team India. The legendary Indian cricketer further added that India are missing the services of all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja at No.7, 8.

During the second ODI, Sunil Gavaskar said, “To be honest with you, I was surprised to see Rishabh Pant up the order because I have always felt that he is probably better off at 6 or 7, depending on how the team has gone. He should be the finisher. My feeling is that Rahul will partner Rohit as the opener, and Surya would probably bat at No. 4.”

He further added, “Then maybe at 5, you will have somebody like a Rishabh Pant and then a Washington Sundar. Don’t forget, India are feeling the absence of Ravindra Jadeja at No. 7, 8. He was scoring so many runs and hitting the big shots. Brilliant fielder and picking up wickets in the middle order. He is being missed greatly by this Indian team.”

Sunil Gavaskar further analyzed the mix-up between KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav, which resulted in the former’s dismissal.

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Talking about the same, Sunil Gavaskar said, “You could perhaps sense that Rahul was looking at the fielder, and when he started that second run and looked, he thought that Surya was not coming back for the second. Surya had taken that first run pretty casually. He hadn’t rushed for it. And when Rahul was halfway down, Surya had barely left the batting crease to come back for the second. That is where that caused a little bit of confusion in Rahul’s mind.”