Team India endured a loss in a thrilling encounter in the second T20I against West Indies on Monday, August 2 at Warner Park, Basseterre in St Kitts. They failed to put up a decent score on the board batting first and ultimately lost the match by five wickets. Avesh Khan, who bowled the final over for India in the match, was criticized heavily by the fans on social media following the loss.
West Indies needed ten runs off the last over, with five wickets in hand, and the well-set Devon Thomas and Odean Smith out in the middle. Avesh started off with a full toss on the off-stump against Oden Smith. It was declared a no-ball as the bowler overstepped. The West Indies batters switched ends, as they took a run off the no-ball. Devon Thomas got an opportunity to take a shot on the free-hit, and he made the most of the chance.
The wicket-keeper batter slammed a six and then finished the match with a boundary off the next ball to take West indies home. He stayed unbeaten on 31 runs off 19 deliveries, including a boundary and a couple of sixes. West Indies won the match with five wickets to spare, equaling the series scoreline 1-1.
#TeamIndia put up a solid fight but it was the West Indies who won the second #WIvIND T20I.
We will look to bounce back in the third T20I. đź‘Ť đź‘Ť
Scorecard 👉 https://t.co/C7ggEOTWOe pic.twitter.com/OnWLKEBiov
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 1, 2022
Earlier in the match, Nicholas Pooran won the toss and asked India to bat first. The visitors managed to put on 138 runs on the board, on the back of a cameo by Rishabh Pant and 31 runs knock by Hardik Pandya. West Indies pacer Obed McCoy probably had one of his best outings on the field. He took 6/17 in his four overs. However, Avesh Khan’s bowling performance of 1/31 at an economy rate of 13.3 was most talked about on social media.
Let’s take a look at how fans reacted to Avesh Khan’s bowling performance:
Unless Bhuvi was injured or India wanted to test other personnel, it was tough to understand why 18th & 20th overs were not bowled by Bhuvi. Seldom batters bat out of position. No reason to tinker with the bowling plans
— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) August 1, 2022
Avesh khan was correct when he said you cannot judge a player by 1-2 games, he only performed in 1-2 games only.
Rohit should have known that avesh doesn't belong to this t20is set-up , even siraj is better#WIvIND
— Sandy (@Scrummaaster) August 2, 2022
Avesh Khan has single handedly gifted this match to West Indies.
Overthrow, no ball, freehit goes for six, then a boundary. Pathetic display of cricket from Indian batting and Avesh Khan#CricketTwitter #IndvsWI— Sudhanshu Sharma (@SudhanshuS18) August 1, 2022
Rohit Sharma took a mighty gamble by giving Avesh Khan the final over instead of Bhuvi and he paid the price.
Avesh bowled a no-ball, conceded a six and failed to defend 10 runs in the end. West Indies level the series 1-1. 🌴
Devon Thomas – 31* (19). 🔥 pic.twitter.com/3GsuL0Zdxd
— Saif Ahmed (@saifahmed75) August 1, 2022
Avesh Khan should be sent home and rested for a while along with his "Extra pace and bounce". So far, not impressed with his international career.#INDvWI #WIvIND
— #GlazersOut (@KillerViperr) August 1, 2022
https://twitter.com/ChitvanSawhney/status/1554209676576690176?s=20&t=z_1a6azpGfbx32foWhHJjA
Avesh Khan has miles to go before playing International Cricket so far he has proved week link since he debuted, looking at his past record giving last over to him was suicidal. Arshdeep is a Brilliant bowler who's way ahead of him.
— Rahul 🇮🇳 (@TrueSpikes) August 2, 2022
The amount of opportunity Avesh Khan has got till now inspite of failing is amazing. The management should understand that his inclusion in the team will only lead to teams failure and nothing else. I don't know what talent they saw in his bowling that they are so impressed.
— Harish kumar (@its_harish_kr) August 2, 2022
Rohit decided to test arsh and avesh Khan, mean while avesh Khan pic.twitter.com/WUxOh7bAoY
— सोनी🇮🇳 (@itsSoni_) August 2, 2022
Unless you give chances to Avesh and Arshdeep you’ll never know: Rohit Sharma
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma had Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the ranks with a couple of overs left to bowl the final over. However, he gave the opportunity to young Avesh Khan to test the bowler in such crunch situations. The decision came under scrutiny as Avesh could not defend 10 runs off the final over.
Speaking post-match, Rohit Sharma revealed the reason behind giving Avesh Khan a chance to bowl the last over. He stated,
“We know what Bhuvi does for us; he has been doing it for years. Unless you give chances to guys like Avesh and Arshdeep you’ll never know. But it is just one game. They have the skills and the talent and it is all about backing them. I am really proud of the bowlers and the team. Targets such as these can get over in 13-14 overs but we dragged it to the last over. I thought the guys executed the plans and really happy with the way the guys bowled.”
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