In its T20I history, India has conceded 220-plus totals 10 times. Five of those have come this year, including two in the series against the West Indies that finished 2-2 after the fifth encounter was abandoned here on Saturday.
Remarkably, in the second T20I in Ranchi, West Indies chased down a gargantuan 250 with nine balls to spare as Shai Hope plundered 102 unbeaten runs from 45 deliveries. Hope scored another century in Hyderabad (102 n.o., 50b, 4×4, 9×6) as his wards ran up a mammoth 247 for thee and stopped India at 223. The maverick pacer has not played the last three times India has conceded 220 plus, and in the T20 World Cup semifinal, wherein England came within eight runs of chasing down 254, Bumrah’s economy rate was 8.25 from four overs.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s inclusion after a gap of nearly four years may be one way to plug this hole. The absence of pace-bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya hasn’t helped. Nitish Kumar and Shivam Dube have tried to deputise, but as vice-captain Tilak Varma implied, they still cannot command a place with either skill. In the upcoming five-match T20I series against New Zealand, India will again be without Bumrah. But it will have Bhuvneshwar and a confident Dhir. Will the puzzle fall into place?
But it is also a fact – as bowling coach Morne Morkel said on the eve of the Bengaluru fixture – that India has been a tad hasty in changing plans while bowling.