West Indies vs India 2023

WATCH: Yuzvendra Chahal walks out to bat on his own volition despite Mukesh Kumar being sent out by management

India lost the first T20I against West Indies in Trinidad by 4 runs. A lot of decisions taken by the Indian team were questionable. The team did not have an anchor for the low-scoring run chases. Sanju Samson, a top-order batter, was asked to finish the innings, while Hardik Pandya, a finisher, promoted himself up the order ahead of Samson.  

While those decisions were still agreeable, at a crucial juncture in the match, Yuzvendra Chahal entered the middle to bat ahead of Mukesh Kumar. What was more embarrassing was the fact that the captain Hardik Pandya and the coach Rahul Dravid wanted Mukesh Kumar to bat at number 10 ahead of Chahal but could not materialize it. 

Here’s the video of the incident:

https://twitter.com/mdNayabsk45/status/1687168684157194240?s=20

Lack of Communication leads to embarrassment

As Chahal was stepping into the middle, Hardik and Dravid realized that it was not according to their plan. So, the duo wanted to stop Chahal from batting ahead of Mukesh. Hence, they tried to send Mukesh quickly before Chahal could go. The 33-year-old realized it, but was late to react, as he had already entered the field.  

According to the rules, once a batter enters the middle, there is no way he/she can return to the pavilion to allow a different batter to bat. Hence, the umpires stopped Mukesh from entering the middle, as it was against the rules. It was so embarrassing to watch as basic communication was necessary at the international level, which was absent at the time.  

It is a different thing if Mukesh could have made a difference or not. But the fact that the Indian management did not try to communicate to the batters where to bat is simply baffling. Chahal is a good leg spinner but is hardly capable of batting. On the other hand, Mukesh was not an incapable batter. Chahal gave the strike to Arshdeep Singh, who was striking well. Unfortunately, India could not win the match, as it was too much to ask from the lower order to score 10 runs in 5 balls on a tricky wicket.