Former Indian fast bowler, Venkatesh Prasad was disappointed with India’s selection for the first T20I against West Indies at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad. India picked Shreyas Iyer as their no.3 position in the series opener, which did not go down well with Prasad, who termed the selection ‘bizarre’ as India has players of higher caliber in T20s than Iyer like Sanju Samson, Deepak Hooda, and Ishan Kishan in their arsenal.
Tweeting about the same, Venkatesh prasad wrote: “Some of the selection calls keeping the upcoming World T20 in mind are worth pondering. Shreyas Iyer in T20 cricket when you have Sanju Samson, Hooda and Ishan Kishan in the team is bizarre. With Virat, Rohit and Rahul definite starters, need to work on getting the right balance.”
Some of the selection calls keeping the upcoming World T20 in mind are worth pondering. Shreyas Iyer in T20 cricket when you have Sanju Samson, Hooda and Ishan Kishan in the team is bizarre. With Virat, Rohit and Rahul definite starters ,need to work on getting right balance.
— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) July 29, 2022
As it turned out, Shreyas Iyer was dismissed without troubling the scorers by Obed McCoy after getting a leading edge on a delivery that held its line. The right-hander, however, smashed a couple of half-centuries in the recently-concluded ODI series against West Indies. When a fan reminded Venkatesh Prasad of that, the pacer said Iyyer is a good choice in ODIs but India currently have better players than the Kolkata Knight Riders captain in T20Is.
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In his reply, Venkatesh Prasad wrote: “He is good in 50 over cricket. In T20 cricket, there are better players as of now who can get going from the word go. Shreyas will have to work hard on his skills for T20.”
He is good in 50 over cricket. In T20 cricket, there are better players as of now who can get going from the word go. Shreyas will have to work hard on his skills for T20
— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) July 29, 2022
Meanwhile, India registered a comprehensive win in the first T20I by 68 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. The Indian skipper, Rohit Sharma, one of a handful of first-choice cricketers rested from the ODI matches, laid the foundation for his team’s total as he was the highest run-getter with a tally of 64 off 44 balls with seven fours and a couple of sixes highlighting the opener’s composed effort.
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Dinesh Karthik then gave the innings important late momentum with an unbeaten knock of 19-ball 41, his unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 52 with Ravichandran Ashwin in the last four overs seeming to drain the West Indies’ enthusiasm in the sweltering midday heat.
India spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravi Bishnoi had too much assistance from the pitch as they scalped a couple of wickets each against a West Indies batting line-up that struggled to build any sort of momentum.
