Hardik Pandya-led Team India lost the first T20I against West Indies by four runs in a thrilling finish at Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad on Thursday, August 3. The hosts went 1-0 ahead in the five-match series.
The World No.1 T20I team failed to chase 150 runs against seventh-placed WI, scoring 145/9. The Men in Blue had the worst possible start as openers Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill departed for single-digit scores.
Debutant Tilak Varma, though, starred with the bat, scoring 39 off 22 balls, including three sixes and two boundaries. Suryakumar Yadav (run a ball 21) and captain Hardik Pandya (run a ball 19) got starts but failed to take the team past the finish line.
Sanju Samson looked good for 12 off as many balls before he was run out. All-rounder Axar Patel also failed to live up to expectations, scoring 13 off 11 balls.
For WI, Jason Holder, Romario Shephard, and Obed McCoy scalped two wickets apiece, while Akeal Hosein bagged a solitary.
Batting first, WI scored 149/6 in their allotted 20 overs. Captain Rovman Powell and Nicholas Pooran starred with the bat, scoring 48 (32) and 41 (34), respectively.
For India, Arshdeep Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal bagged two wickets apiece, while Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav took one each.
Fans on Twitter trolled Team India for their loss against WI in the first T20I. One user tweeted:
“Kapil Dev was right, arrogance is killing Indian cricket.”
Here are some of the other Twitter reactions:
and this current Indian team is best in playing only in IPL 🤣 
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“A young team will make mistakes” – Hardik Pandya defends Team India after losing T20I opener
India captain Hardik Pandya defended Team India despite losing the opening game in the T20I series against West Indies on Thursday. The all-rounder said that the youth will learn from mistakes:
“We were right to chase. We made some errors, which cost us the game. A young team will make mistakes. We will learn. Good four games ahead. In T20 cricket, if you lose wickets, it becomes difficult to chase. A couple of hits can change the momentum. When we lost a couple of wickets, that halted us.”
He further hailed Tilak Varma for his impressive show with bat and in the field (two catches). He also lauded Mukesh Kumar for making his debuts across formats.
“Tilak – very pleasing to see. There’s confidence and fearless. Mukesh – to have these two weeks in WI – to make debuts in all three formats is really good. He bowled a couple of overs back to back. They are going to do wonders for India.”
Team India will next face off against WI in the second T20I at Providence Stadium in Guyana on Sunday, August 6.
Click here to check out the full IND vs WI 1st T20I scorecard.