When Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan formed a promising 90-run opening partnership during the second ODI match, it seemed like another routine victory for India over the West Indies was in the cards. India had not lost an ODI match against the two-time world champions in four years, and the series appeared to be heading towards a decisive conclusion on Saturday evening. However, an unexpected turn of events changed the course of the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gill’s dismissal triggered a collapse from which India failed to recover, losing 10 wickets for just 91 runs. This set a target of 182 for West Indies to chase, and they successfully achieved it. Interestingly, West Indies had recently failed to qualify for the 2023 ODI World Cup, making their victory over India even more surprising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the loss, enraged Indian fans criticized the team’s head coach, Rahul Dravid, for his strategy in the match. They were particularly unhappy with the decision to rest two senior batters, captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. The batting lineup also seemed disorganized, with Sanju Samson, playing his first ODI match since November 2022, coming in at No.3. Axar Patel was then sent to bat at No.4, ahead of stand-in skipper Hardik Pandya, while Suryakumar Yadav was placed at No.6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n