Team India put in an underwhelming performance against West Indies in the second ODI at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Saturday as the Men in Blue suffered a defeat by 6-wickets. Shai Hope led his team from the front scoring a Man of the Match-worthy knock of 63 runs as he helped the Windies chase down the required total of 182 runs with 80 balls to spare.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were surprisingly rested by the Indian management and head coach Rahul Dravid was heavily criticised by fans after the defeat.
In Rohit’s absence, Hardik Pandya led the Indian team but they struggled against the West Indies bowling attack, folding for just 181 runs with Ishan Kishan top scoring at 55. Gudakesh Motie and Romario Shepherd both chipped in with three wickets each.
With just a couple of months remaining before the ICC ODI World Cup 2023, India’s defeat to West Indies, a team that has failed to qualify for the tournament irked fans who weren’t pleased with the constant experiments.
‘Sack Dravid’ started to trend on Twitter a day after India’s defeat, with fans calling for the head coach’s head pointing to previous defeats in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022, and the World Test Championship final in 2023 among other setbacks.
Take a look:
Now ive become death, the destroyer of Indian Cricket team with my politics.#sackdravid pic.twitter.com/oaNSKfy83q— (@SergioCSKK) July 29, 2023
MI, RCB and CSK fans united for a cause after a long time. #SackDravidpic.twitter.com/ECZ7JN9PSm— Abishiek (@ambanidaww) July 29, 2023
This should be a common knowledge.#SackDravid #INDvsWI pic.twitter.com/rTS2qa0QSa— Msdstan (@iam_Adii_) July 29, 2023
Apni tarah hi Team India ko bhi defensive bana diya.You need to learn from Mccullum and Shastri. #SackDravid pic.twitter.com/t7k5U6Umf9
— Abhishek Kumar (@abhishek_itmi) July 29, 2023
The future of Indian team looks nothing without Rohit sharma and Virat Kohli ..#INDvsWI #WIvIND #IndianCricket #SackDravid #BCCI pic.twitter.com/47UEW7cL0d— Ujjwal (@Ujjwal_9792) July 30, 2023
I have always been an admirer of Indian coaches managing the Indian Cricket team but it seems like we need a new Indian coach based on team’s performance and their zeal to win. Should BCCI appoint Ashish Nehra to become the next coach of the team? #SackDravid #saveindiancricket pic.twitter.com/gq1lja2GHZ— mohit ahuja (@troy_90) July 29, 2023
Indian Cricket Team performance in Major ICC and Asia cup :-• Lost WTC final 2023 ( no Ashwin)• Lost Semi final vs Eng ( T20 WC 22)• Lost Asia cup 2022• Lost one match vs Pakistan in league game Asia cup !
We don’t Need a coach like dravid anymore ! #Sackdravid pic.twitter.com/IXEG5y5Sxt
— ✨ (@ritik______raj) July 30, 2023
When quizzed about the decision to rest Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, Dravid explained post-match that due to the players who are currently out injured, the Indian management wanted to test other players before the Asia Cup 2023.
“Honestly, this was our last chance to be able to try out some of our players,” said Dravid.
“We have got few of our players who are injured, are in the NCA. With a month to go for the Asia Cup, we are kind of running out of time in a lot of ways. And we are hopeful that some of them will be fit for the Asia Cup and the World Cup. But we can’t take those chances, we have to try out other people and give them chances so that in worst case scenario they at least have game time behind them,” he added.
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