Varun Aaron criticises India’s bowling strategy after West Indies’ record T20I chase

Varun Aaron criticised India’s bowling strategy after the West Indies chased 250 in the second T20I in Ranchi. He said India abandoned disciplined lengths too early as Shai Hope’s unbeaten 102 and Sherfane Rutherford’s 84 secured a record chase.

New Delhi: Former India cricketer Varun Aaron criticised India’s bowling strategy after the West Indies chased down a target of 250 in the second T20I in Ranchi, saying that the hosts abandoned disciplined lengths too soon as Shai Hope and Sherfane Rutherford took control of the contest with an aggressive partnership.

“The way Shai Hope and Rutherford played was brilliant. It was almost a Batman-and-Robin kind of partnership: Shai Hope held guard, kept things steady at one end, and Rutherford just kept going. They batted brilliantly, but the Indian bowlers, after that first four or five overs, just completely forgot about bowling length. I think they pressed the panic button way too early,” Aaron told JioStar.

---

The Men in Blue decided to move away from a consistent length after making early inroads. Mayank Yadav claimed two wickets in the opening over and finished with three scalps, giving India and opportunity to keep the pressure on the visitors. Aaron felt the bowlers could have made better use of that early advantage by continuing to target disciplined lengths instead of frequently switching to variations.

“They went to their yorkers, slower balls, bouncers, wide bouncers and wide slower balls way too early. Mayank Yadav got three wickets. Two of those three wickets were off proper length. That’s exactly what Arshdeep should have done, especially when Rovman Powell was batting at the start and was looking very shaky.

“They gave him a few full tosses, trying to bowl yorkers. He got a few boundaries off them, and then they kept building the innings. Since they had those two early wickets from Mayank Yadav, India could have stuck to their lengths a little longer,” he added.

West Indies, however, recovered from losing three wickets for 58 runs as Hope and Rutherford combined to transform the chase. Hope remained unbeaten on 102 off 45 balls, while Rutherford snuck strick 84 off 37 deliveries. Their 120-run stand put the visitors back in command and laid the foundation for a successful pursuit.

The Windies reached 252/4 in 18.3 overs, completing the highest successful T20I chase against India and levelling the five-match series 1-1. India had posted 249/5, with Sanju Samson scoring 82 off 41 and Tilak Varma contributing 44.