The Indian bowling line-up has come under increased scrutiny following India’s 24-run loss to the West Indies in the fourth T20I, which was being played in Hyderbad.
Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif said that if the team keeps favouring all-rounders over specialist bowlers, it will not be able to win the World Cup. In Hyderabad, India gave up 247/3, with specialist spinner Kuldeep Yadav remaining on the bench and Nitish Kumar Reddy and Naman Dhir giving up lots of runs in their overs without taking a wicket.
Mohammad Kaif On Indian Bowling Line-Up
“The truth here as to why the Indian team lost is because of their bowling. The blame should fall on them. 247 is a lot of runs. We lost because we bowled badly. There were too many runs on the board. Also, this is not happening for the first time. What happens in a five-match series is that usually batters win you three games, and bowlers win you the other matches. Here, bowlers are not winning you games at all. You will never win the World Cup with this combination,” Mohammad Kaif said on Cricbuzz.
“If you remember the 2024 T20 World Cup, everybody contributed there. Jasprit Bumrah was there, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav were there too. The batters were there too. Some people might say played slowly, but one has to realise that not all batters will perform on the same day. But today, Sanju Samson played well.”
Kaif’s observation does appear valid as the Indian bowlers have given up more than 200 runs in every game, with the exception of the first T20I, as India batted down a 172-run mark in 14.4 overs. The Indian bowlers were unable to defend a score of 249 in the second T20I, which was won by the . India scored 223 runs in the third T20I. The West Indies narrowly missed by 14 runs.
India captain Shreyas Iyer was also dissatisfied with the bowling. “It all started with bowling. I think we didn’t execute our line lengths well, and see, at the end of the day, chasing 250, you have to go in a certain pattern when you’re coming and chasing. So I like the approach when we were chasing, but we were unfortunate we couldn’t execute our plans in bowling, and that’s where we fell a bit short,” Shreyas Iyer said.