West Indies vs India: Ajit Agarkar questions India’s tactic of holding Yuzvendra Chahal back – Don’t know what the plan is

Former fast bowler Ajit Agarkar was a tad taken aback after India decided to hold Yuzvendra Chahal back in the second ODI at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad. On Sunday, July 24, Chahal was introduced into the attack in the 17th over and he couldn’t finish his quota of 10 overs.

In nine overs, Chahal conceded 69 runs and picked up the wicket of the in-form Brandon King. West Indies ended up scoring 311 for six on the back of Shai Hope’s century.

“I don’t quite know what is the plan regarding holding Chahal back. He has done really well whenever he has bowled. Today you could see that when there are explosive hitters in the end, maybe he was a little bit greedy trying to pick wickets towards the end of the innings,” Agarkar was quoted as saying on Fancode.

Agarkar, who has 288 ODI wickets to his name, said that India should bring Chahal early into the attack and go for wickets when the batters aren’t set.

“It’s not always easy, doesn’t matter how good a bowler you are, once there are set batters at the crease, once there is a little bit of license, these guys have a lot of power. So why not get him in the game early and try and pick up wickets up front,” he added.

On Sunday, India beat West Indies by two wickets with two balls left and took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. Axar Patel scored a match-winning half-century and helped India register the third-highest successful run-chase in ODIs in the Caribbean.

The third and final ODI is set to take place on Wednesday, July 27 in Trinidad itself.

— ENDS —