Pollard says: the last time dew played a big part and they want to avoid it. Jason Holder comes back in, Fabian Allen is out.
Rohit says: “It’s a lightning outfield, we need to play our shots and then see what we need to do after the powerplay. There is always room for improvement and we want to raise our game to the next level.” India are unchanged.
ICC Rankings Test, ODI & T20I
Virat Kohli: I had decided when I went in to stay positive but then we lost a few wickets. I still wanted to keep going but unfortunately, I got out. I was happy with my intent that I wanted to play my shots. Sometimes you play with responsibility over a period of time, you tend to ask if you want to play the big shots early.
You don’t want to be reckless but at the same time, you want to play your shots. That is the balance you strive for. Today I was happy with that balance. The wicket was gripping in the middle so if we are smart with the ball we have got enough. Special mention to Rishabh and Venky in the end. They have got us those 10 extra runs.
India vs West Indies 2nd T20I Highlights today, Friday 18-2-2022 – 2nd T20I (N), West Indies tour of India from Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
Form guide
Last five completed T20Is; the most recent first
India: WWWWW
West Indies: LWLWL
WI won the toss and will bowl first.
India team: RG Sharma*, Ishan Kishan, V Kohli, RR Pant†, SA Yadav, VR Iyer, DL Chahar, HV Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, B Kumar, YS Chahal.
West Indies team: BA King, KR Mayers, N Pooran†, RL Chase, R Powell, KA Pollard*, JO Holder, AJ Hosein, OF Smith, R Shepherd, SS Cottrell.
Match Timings: 13:30 GMT | 19:00 Local
Umpires – Nitin Menon, Virender Sharma
TV Umpires – Jayaraman Madanagopal
Match Referee – Manu Nayyar
Reserve Umpire – KN Ananthapadmanabhan
Match number – T20I no. 1473
Kieron Pollard:
[On Powell] He was phenomenal today. His partnership with Pooran almost took us over the line. Pleased with the guys. The ball was moving around and they have got good bowlers. You have to give credit where it’s due. In the first game, you could have said we were a bit slow in the middle overs but we corrected that here. We cannot call the batters out. We can look at it in different ways how we could have got those eight runs. We are a work in progress.
Rohit Sharma:
You are always a bit scared when you are playing against these guys. In the end, it was a phenomenal finish. Right from the start, we knew it wouldn’t be easy. But I am proud we executed our plans under pressure. It was very critical at that point when Bhuvneshwar bowled. That’s where experience comes into play. Bhuvi has been doing it for many years and we believe in him a lot.
The way Virat started he took the pressure off me as well. It was a very important innings. And great finish by Rishabh and Venky Iyer. To see that sort of maturity from Iyer is very pleasing. He looks confident and towards the end, he asked me if I wanted to give him an over. We were a little sloppy in the field, a little disappointed with that. We could have done better if we had taken those catches. We want to try and minimize those mistakes moving forward.
Rishabh Pant, the Player of the Match:
I am fine wherever the team wants me to bat. I think all of us inside the circle was waiting for it but in the end, it was Bhuvi bhai’s catch. I think the more you practice, the better you get [on his pick-up shot over short fine leg]. It’s never easy playing continuously with bubbles but when I started playing, this is what I wanted to do. I think Powell was hitting bullets out there but at the back of my mind, I was happy as well because he will be playing for Delhi Capitals.
