West Indies vs India 2017: Virat Kohli blames poor shot selection for India’s loss

What’s the story?

Indian captain Virat Kohli has blamed the batsmen's poor shot selection for his team's 11-run loss to West Indies in the fourth ODI at Antigua last night. He also credited the West Indian bowlers for bowling a lot of dot balls and creating pressure, as a result of which the batsmen were forced to make mistakes. Kohli also vowed to put this loss behind and come back stronger for the next game in Jamaica on July 7.

“Our shot selection wasn’t up to the mark. Losing crucial wickets at crucial stages. You’ve got to keep up the momentum through the game. I felt that the wicket was a bit two-paced. Credit to the West Indies bowlers. They created those dot balls that induced those mistakes. We just have to put this behind us and come back fresh for the next game,” Kohli said in the post-match presentation.

In case you didn’t know...

After winning the second and third ODI, India went into the fourth ODI with their eyes set on taking an unassailable 3-0 lead. Choosing to bat first, West Indies managed to score just 189 in their 50 overs, thanks to some brilliant bowling from Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav. Chasing a modest total of 190 in 50 overs on a slow wicket, Indians choked themselves to an 11-run loss.

Details

Chasing 190 to win, India were off to a worst possible start as they lost the wickets of Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli early for the second successive innings and it was Rahane, who stepped up again and steadied the ship for the Men in Blue. Dinesh Karthik, who is playing an ODI after three years, had a nightmare at the crease before he was dismissed for a 19-ball 2.

Rahane reached his fifty and his 54-run partnership for the fourth wicket with MS Dhoni came to an end when the former was dismissed for 60. Kedar Jadhav followed the Mumbaikar soon after and it was left to Dhoni and Pandya to take the team home. The duo did a reasonable job to bring the equation to 31 runs off 30 balls and it was when Pandya was castled by Holder for 20. MS Dhoni reached his fifty, his slowest in ODIs, and looked set to take India home yet again.

Extra cover: MS Dhoni registers his slowest ODI fifty

But, a brain fade from Jadeja when just 17 runs were needed off 15 balls created more pressure on Dhoni and the former skipper holed out to Alzarri Joseph for an 114-ball 54 in the last ball of the penultimate over. It was just a matter of time before West Indies completed the proceedings and kept the series alive.

What’s next?

With the first match of the series washed out due to rain, the five-match ODI series between India and West Indies is hanging in balance with India having a 2-1 lead with the fifth ODI to be played in Kingston, Jamaica on July 7.

Author’s Take

With 17 needed off 15 balls, India could have easily won the match had Jadeja and Dhoni dealt in singles. But, poor shot selection from Jadeja turned the match in favour of West Indies.

Jadeja is not the only batsman to got out in such a manner as Kohli himself, along with Dinesh Karthik, Shikhar Dhawan and MS Dhoni got out due to poor shot selections and being veterans, they will look to rectify their mistakes and bounce back in the next match.