India v West Indies talking points: Captain Rohit Sharma leads from the front

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  • A superb fourth T20 ton for Roghit. Image - BCCI/Twitter.

    India made it a series win across all formats against the West Indies after crushing the visitors by 71 runs in the second T20 at Lucknow on Tuesday.

    The win helped the hosts take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. It was Windies skipper Carlos Brathwaite who won the toss and inserted the hosts into the batting crease as India piled on a mammoth 195-2 in their 20 overs.

    In return, India’s bowlers managed to restrict the visitors to 124-9 in their 20 overs to seal a thumping series-clinching win at the brand-new Ekana Stadium.

    As India celebrate another T20I series win, we look at the key talking points from Lucknow.

    OSHANE THOMAS CRANKS UP THE HEAT 

    Oshane Thomas had troubled India with his raw pace on his T20 debut in Kolkata and as such, more of the same was expected from the 21-year-old on Tuesday.

    Hence, it was no surprise when he cranked up the heat with the very first over of the match at Lucknow. The right-armed pacer touched speeds of 150kmph in his first over as he made stand-in India skipper Rohit Sharma hop and jump.

    More than his piercing pace, it was the steep bounce Thomas generated which had India’s openers in all kinds of bother. No wonder then Rohit was unable to score a single run off his first over which ended as a maiden. The youngster kept up the speed in his second over, too, as India’s openers were able to add only 20 runs from the first four overs.

    The only thing missing from Thomas’ electric burst was a wicket and that would prove costly in the end for the visitors.

    ROHIT STEALS THE THUNDER WITH FOURTH T20 TON

    It is hard to believe Rohit Sharma ended up unbeaten on a 61-ball 111 after his first six deliveries had ended in dots. Following a quiet opening period, the stand-in India skipper finally freed his hands in the fifth over with some style. The right-hander dealt primarily in boundaries and specifically in sixes as he turned India’s innings on its head.

    With Shikhar Dhawan looking solid at the other end, Rohit made up for his slow start by striking three sixes on his way to a 38-ball half century. He saw Dhawan and Rishabh Pant fall in quick succession at the other end, but those dismissals only spurred Rohit to step up his attack as he came alive in the death overs.

    Rohit had to wait until the final over of the innings to get to triple figures but he got there with the help of two consecutive boundaries to bring up his fourth T20 ton, the most by any batsman in the format. The classy batsman put on an exhibition of six hitting at the Ekana Stadium, carting a total of seven of them in his whirlwind knock.

    What was the most impressive aspect of Rohit’s big hitting was the fact that the Ekana stadium boundary lengths were significantly large, yet the opening batsman had no troubles in clearing the ropes with his immaculate timing on the ball.

    That he now holds the record for the most ODI double tons as well as the most T20 hundreds speaks volumes about Rohit’s white-ball abilities.

    DOUBLE K’S BREAK WINDIES BACK

    A chase of 196 was always going to be a daunting one for the Windies despite there being no shortage of batting firepower in their ranks.

    However, they did not help matters with the openers getting off to a poor start. It was Khaleel Ahmed who got India off to an excellent start with the ball with the left-armed pacer striking twice in the powerplay overs to remove the dangerous Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer.

    With the powerplay done and dusted, it was Kuldeep Yadav’s turn to wreak havoc on the Windies batting order with the wrist-spinner striking twice in his very first over to see the backs of debutant Nicholas Pooran and Darren Bravo.

    Once these four wickets had fallen, there was no way back for the visitors with India tightening the screws as the asking rate climbed steeply. Some late-order hitting from Keemo Paul helped the Windies cross the 100-run mark but it was not enough to spare the visitors’ blushes at Lucknow.

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