India managed to score just 103 runs in their last 17 overs against the West Indies in the first ODI on 22 July. They lost six wickets when the West Indies limited the visitors to 308/7 in the first innings.
Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer all crossed fifty and at 213/1 it looked like the Men in Blue would easily exceed the 350 run.
However, Indian middle class Suryakunar Yadav, Sanju Samson and Deepak Hooda were unable to score quickly. Even people like Axar Patel and Shardul Thakur couldn’t contribute much with the bat.
The ball had also softened a bit and the West Indian bowlers adjusted their line and length well to limit the flow of runs at death.
Fans on Twitter were disappointed with the speed at which India hit a stage where they really needed to accelerate. Some fans also trolled those who wanted Sanju Samson and Deepak Hooda out, as both batters couldn’t live up to the bill. Samson scored 12 from 18 balls, while Hooda scored 27 from 32 balls.
Here are some of the responses:
but but Hooda is the replacement for Kohli
If the batting continues like this, I won’t get past the first innings. #WIvIND
and they wanted to replace Kohli with tesooda
Samson’s exclusion from T20Is ❌Samson’s inclusion in ODIs#WIvsIND
Looking at such statistics, it would be an injustice for sunju Samson not to be selected as an Aquarius for the World Cup. https://t.co/96YZvEb2RI
We cannot select players according to their t20 stats in odi. you are a fact
I look at those hour-old tweets that said India is going to score 500 and tricked me into downloading fan code. https://t.co/3HufIZsIOV
Shikhar Dhawan’s 97 ordered India
Stand-in Indian captain Shikhar Dhawan had scored just 41 points in the three-match ODI series in England earlier this month. He was under a bit of pressure to get into this match. However, Shubman Gill on the other hand got off to a flying start and gave his captain some breathing room to settle into the fold.
After a point, both openers reached their half-century and points started flowing on both sides. Gill’s laziness probably cost him a hundred ODI debut when he was sent off by Nicholas Pooran on what should have been an easy single.
Shreyas Iyer walked to battle number 3 and initially took some time to get going.
Dhawan continued his merry way and it looked like he was rolling out to yet another ODI hundred. However, an incredible flyout on the run ended his innings at 97.
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Iyer also left soon after he reached fifty and suddenly two new batters were on the limit. The pitch appeared to hold up, making hitting shots for new batters not easy.
Suryakumar Yadav came down for 13 (14) trying to up the ante. Sanju Samson and Deepak Hooda both made their ODI comebacks and this was probably the perfect situation for them to show their natural intentions.
However, they just couldn’t get going and the hosts will pick up a bit of momentum with them in pursuit of 309.
