India vs Windies 2018: Aakash Chopra Takes A Dig At Visitors' Poor Show With Bat In First T20I

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra took a dig at Windies after their dismal batting show in the first T20 International against India.

Windies could not have asked for a better format to sign off from India. They were not expected to give India much of a fight in the Tests and ODIs and although they gave India a run for their money in the first three ODIs, they eventually perished. India thrashed the Caribbean outfit in Tests 2-0 before getting the better of them in ODIs by 3-1.

Throughout the Test series, they faced criticism for their shot selection. Trying to play aggressive shots in Tests, the Windies batsmen completely failed to do well in the Tests.  They did well in the first three ODIs but were thoroughly outplayed in the last two games.

Windies, however, were expected to give India a tough challenge in the T20Is. The two-time World T20 champions hold an edge over their fancied opponents. Windies hold a 5-2 win-loss ratio over India in eight meetings. The only thing that was against them in the series was the absence of some big names.

The likes of Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Sunil Narine opted out of the series while Andre Russell and Ashley Nurse were ruled out of the series with injuries. And the Carlos Brathwaite-led side did little to do justice to their reputation in the shortest format of the game.

They could only manage 109 for 8 in the series-opener. Asked to bat first, Windies were off to a decent start, racing away to 16 off 2 overs. However, the game turned on its head once Umesh Yadav sent back Denesh Ramdin. Six balls later, Shai Hope departed after a comical run out which opened the floodgates. Any hopes of scoring big took a big blow when Shimron Hetmyer was sent back by Jasprit Bumrah for just 10. Kieron Pollard and Darren Bravo stopped the rot for a while by adding 19 runs before both of them departed in quick succession. As a result, Windies found themselves reeling at 49 for 5.

Windies kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and never looked in contention to score a competitive total. Fabian Allen then scored 27 off 20 to guide the team to a respectable score.

But the criticism soon followed and Aakash Chopra also joined the bandwagon. He took to Twitter to take a dig at the visitor, writing:

“During Tests it felt that Windies batsmen were playing T20. In T20 it feels as if they’re playing T10. ??”

During Tests it felt that Windies batsmen were playing T20.
In T20 it feels as if they’re playing T10. ?? #IndvWI

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) November 4, 2018