Indore: Indian batter Abhishek Sharma said the team knew West Indies could turn a match around at any stage and stressed the need to remain ruthless after India secured a 14-run victory in the third T20I of the five-match series in Indore.
With the series tied at 1-1, India posted 223 in the third T20I at Indore before restricting West Indies to 209/7, with Arshdeep Singh taking three wickets and Naman Dhir claiming two to help the hosts take a series lead. However, West Indies’ Shamar Springer brought things mighty close with his unbeaten 35 off just 11 balls, hitting three sixes and a boundary in the last over.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Abhishek, who was India’s top-scorer with a 30-ball 69, said the team knew West Indies could turn the game around at any stage and stressed the need to remain ruthless and deny them any opportunity to make a comeback.
“I think the West Indies is the kind of team against whom you can never say that the match has swung completely in our favor. That was in our minds, because we saw in the last match as well that whichever batter walks in, given the conditions here, it's very easy for them to take the game away from anywhere. So that was in our minds; even when wickets were falling, the talk in the huddle was that we need to remain ruthless from here on, not let them off the hook, and not give them even a single chance to make a comeback,” he said.
Notably, Abhishek’s comments come after West Indies registered their highest successful run chase in T20Is, defeating India by six wickets in the second T20I in Ranchi on Friday. Chasing India’s 249/5, West Indies reached 252/4 in 18.3 overs, powered by an unbeaten 102 off 45 balls from skipper Shai Hope and Sherfane Rutherford’s 84 off 37 deliveries, while Romario Shepherd remained unbeaten on 34 off 13 balls.
Abhishek said Springer’s aggressive batting highlighted West Indies’ ability to turn a match. He added that India focused on staying ruthless, avoiding loose deliveries and executing their plans.
“If you saw today, the way Springer batted, I got really surprised by the way he played those shots; they weren't easy shots. In that case, you have to be on your toes all the time. Even if they are 50 for 5, they have the capability to turn things around. We were very much prepared this time that we had to be ruthless. Even if we had a good powerplay with the ball, we couldn't afford to give them even one bad ball. We just wanted to execute our plans, and that's what we did,” he said.