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India vs West Indies: Key takeaways from T20 series: KL Rahul grabs chance; Rishabh Pant disappoints again

India vs West Indies: Key takeaways from T20 series: KL Rahul grabs chance; Rishabh Pant disappoints again as India wrap the series 2-1 with a win at Mumbai

India vs West Indies: Key takeaways

Bengaluru, December 12: India bagged the T20I series against West Indies with a facile 67-run win at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. But have India ticked all the boxes? Or are there still some areas of concern?

MyKhel takes a deeper look and try to find out India's progress as a T20 side as the ICC T20 World Cup draws closer.

1. KL Rahul grabs chance

1. KL Rahul grabs chance

Rahul got an opportunity to open the innings after Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out of the series with an injury that he sustained during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match at Surat. And how well exploited the door opened in front him. He made two classy fifties in the series, a 64 at Hyderabad and 91 at Mumbai and those knocks might have earned him a longer stint as opener in T20Is. Now, he is sure to get three more ODIs against Windies and Rahul will be keen to push his case further.

2. Pant disappoints

2. Pant disappoints

Rishabh Pant still has not tamed the white ball format in international cricket. In Hyderabad, he made a quick 18 and looked good for more but threw his wicket away with three more overs left in the innings. In the series decider in Mumbai, Pant got a promotion to No 3 with ample overs left to make an impression but he got out for a nought in the second ball. It will pinch him a lot because the wicket was good for batting and three batsmen - Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul - made merry on it. He made a tepid 33 at Thiruvananthapuram but that aloe will not be sufficient to keep the focus away from him.

Pant is getting a long rope and he has seldom vindicated the faith on him by the team management. But the time will not wait too long for anyone. But on the brighter side, Pant showed lot of improvement as a wicketkeeper.

3. Spinners falter

3. Spinners falter

Of course, the pitches in Hyderabad and Mumbai were not precisely of any helping nature if you are bowler but that cannot hide the fact that Indian spinners were less than effective in the series. India used four spinners in the series - Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav - and none of them could find their range. Among them, they picked up eight wickets but failed to contain runs and seemed bereft of ideas when batsmen went after them.

In that order, their economy stood at 10.28, 8.12, 8.66 and 11.25 in the series and they will be spending some time in the discussion room with bowling coach B Arun.

4. Did India find a batting template?

4. Did India find a batting template?

India have been more effective chasing the target than setting one in T20Is and we have seen that against South Africa and Bangladesh. That factor might have played in Kieron Pollard's mind when he elected to field at Mumbai in the decider. But India came up with a different approach - they were after runs from Ball 1 and the tempo never came down. India would like to emulate that power packed approach more often than not and if India can do that then this side will become formidable in the T20s too.

Story first published: Thursday, December 12, 2019, 10:39 [IST]
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