The lengthy tail of India’s batting lineup was exposed again on Sunday and pundits say the team management need to find a solution ahead of the T20 World Cup in West Indies and the United States next year.
Hardik Pandya’s team suffered their second successive defeat in the five-match series against West Indies and the loss also highlighted the lack of batting firepower in their lower order.
India’s decision to pick specialist bowlers, who can hardly bat, effectively left them with four number 11 batters in both matches. They now need to win the third match in Providence on Tuesday to stay afloat in the series.
“The West Indies have highlighted one of the issues that India have in white ball cricket. They won today because they had six hitters down the order,” commentator Harsha Bhogle wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
“India tend to taper off at the end. You don’t need batters down at 9/10 but they must have the ability to hit boundaries.”
India posted a below-par 152-7 before bouncing back to reduce the hosts to 129-8 in 16 overs.
But Akeal Hosein and Alzarri Joseph milked 26 runs off 17 balls for the unbroken ninth wicket to seal victory by two wickets with seven balls to spare.
Pandya, leading an India side sans several frontline players, put the onus on their top and middle order to score more runs.
“With the current combination, we will have to trust out top seven batters to come good and hope the bowlers win you games,” the all-rounder said after the defeat.
“We have to find ways to make sure we have the right balance but at the same time batters need to take more responsibility.”
