Abhinav Mukund Reacts To Yuzvendra Chahal Not Bowling His Final Over In 2nd T20I vs West Indies – News18

Former Indian opener, Abhinav Mukund has said that he was taken aback by Hardik Pandya’s decision to not let Yuzvendra Chahal bowl his full quota of overs in the second T20I against West Indies. The hosts beat India by two wickets in the contests at Guyana to have a 2-0 lead in the bilateral series.

Mukund felt that Chahal should have been entrusted with bowling in one of the remaining overs of the game. While speaking to JioCinema post-game, Mukund said, “I can’t get an explanation for it…10 times out of 10 you would have gone with Chahal and tried to close out the game there.”

Abhinav Mukund added that he was baffled by the decision to bring Arshdeep Singh back in the 18th over. The Tamil Nadu cricketer felt that Arshdeep should have come in either the 19th or the final over, depending on the required number of runs.

“If you wanted to bowl him [Arshdeep Singh], you could have had him bowl the 19th, left the last over to Mukesh or even brought Arshdeep for the final over,” he continued.

Mukund understood that there was a left-handed batter on the pitch but Yuzvendra Chahal’s wicket of Hetmyer was compelling enough to bring him on again towards the end.

Batting first after winning the toss, India scored a below-par 152-run total. Tilak Verma stepped up for India scoring 51 runs in 41 balls, hitting five boundaries and one six in the game. During their defence of the total, the West Indies batters made quick work of India’s bowling side and mounted a score of 126 for four wickets in only the 14th over of the match.

Yuzvendra Chahal turned the tide of the game, scalping the wickets of Shimron Hetmyer and Jason Holder in the 16th over. Mukesh Kumar came on next in the 17th over, giving away only three runs. However, the last two overs saw West Indies score 23 runs, ultimately securing the win.

India were already trailing the series 0-1 against the West Indies after conceding a four-run defeat in their opening T20I at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba. With their second successive defeat, the Men in Blue are currently on the verge of a 3-0 humiliation against the Caribbean side. The third T20I game has been scheduled on August 8. It would be interesting to see if India can mount a comeback to reverse sweep West Indies.