Takeaways | Nicholas Pooran’s arrival, Rishabh Pant’s redemption and Khaleel Ahmed’s baptism

11/12/2018

The most inconsequential T20I of the series gave India the most valuable insights as the hosts eventually managed a complete the clean sweep on the last ball of the match. From Rishabh Pant’s resurrection to Nicholas Pooran’s arrival, here are the takeaways from the last match of Windies’ tour.

Nicholas Pooran – Has his time finally come?

Life could work out in mysterious ways if one doesn’t lose hope and while there are numerous examples to validate that, Nicholas Pooran is definitely the most recent of it. Not many know but even before Carlos Braithwaite took the cricketing world by storm with his 2016 World T20 heroics, it was Pooran’s name that ruled Windies household. During the 2014 U-19 World Cup’s clash between West Indies and Australia, the Caribbeans were reduced to 70/8 when Pooran had first rose to prominence. Alongside the then no. 10 batsman Jerome Jones, Pooran went on to make a stunning 143 runs from there keeping the Australians on field till the 50th over. But, just when things looked up for the protégé he met with a car accident in 2015 that ruptured his left patellar tendon and fractured his right ankle. It had taken him six months to only start walking without support before he could even think of playing. When Pooran came to bat today with Windies at 95/3, the side was looking at another calamitous crash after a terrific start. And although the situation wasn’t half as precarious as it was in 2014, his side still needed him to do his thing. Pooran’s innings of 25-ball-53 eventually gave Windies’ start the fruition it deserved. Hence, if the Chidambaram audience is stunned today by the manipulative ease with which Pooran whacked a seasoned Bhuvneshwar Kumar all over the ground, while the commentator couldn’t get enough of him labeling him “unplayable”, don’t mistake it as a one evening wonder.

Rishabh Pant redeems selectors’ trust in MS Dhoni's adopted home

Was it scripted, really? There is no doubt that the only person standing in MS Dhoni’s dream of retiring from the national team from the T20 World Cup in 2020 is Rishabh Pant. The southpaw, despite not being the wittiest of wicket-keepers in the business, has made a powerful argument with his batting skills to the BCCI. It was convincing enough for the team management to drop Dhoni from the side in order to hand him a chance in the T20I series of Windies and Australia. However, his attempt to get out of Dhoni’s shadows was continuously thwarted by poor form and impatient batting. BCCI had persisted with Dinesh Karthik behind the stumps that had left Pant with only his batting to focus upon. But, he was struggling at it managing only six runs in the first two matches, with many even claiming Shreyas Iyer to get the nod ahead of him down under. But, things happen when they are to happen. With Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul getting dismissed early in the match, the onus was left with Shikhar Dhawan and Pant to take India home and get a clean sweep of the series, the Delhi Daredevils players did that in some style. Starting off slow, as he took as many as eight balls to get his first boundary, Pant build his confidence gradually before bringing out his innovative best and his marvelous leg scoop to bring up his fifty is a tribute to that. Though the innings was a special one to start with, his innings came at Chidambaram Stadium, where his Dhoni had made the country his own. Is it ironic or the coming of full circle?

Khaleel Ahmed’s reality check might bode well for India

It was a horrible day for Indian bowling to put it mildly with every bowler being taken to the ropes apart from Yuzvendra Chahal, who got two wickets to his name giving away 28 runs. While India were experimenting with Washington Sundar, the management expected the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Khaleel Ahmed to get the side to the shore in times of crisis. But, the pace duo hardly helped conceding as many as 76 runs between them in eight overs. However, while Bhuvi has been returning from an injury, playing most of his matches with straps on, Khaleel was the man in form who had come to the match at the back of some scintillating performances in Kolkata and Lucknow getting three wickets. And given the way he started his game giving just one run in his first over, and almost getting Shai Hope’s edge in his second over, fans would have expected him to get a fifer in Jasprit Bumrah’s absence. But, the good start turned out to be a disastrous end as he conceded 37 runs by the end. The last over was the worst of them all when Darren Bravo and Pooran took him to the purgatory and back whacking 23 runs in it. In retrospective, Ahmed might have needed a reality jolt through his spine for the Australians won’t give away the match after posting a target of over 180 by any chance. After all, the most important experience Khaleel could get away from home would be that he could have a bad day even if he is doing everything right.