Former India keeper-batter Parthiv Patel has asid that left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav got the two most important wickets in the West Indies line-up in the fourth T20I on Saturday (August 12). According to Patel, Kuldeep’s dismissals of Nicholas Pooran (1) and Rovman Powell (1) turned the game India’s way.
The Men in Blue hammered West Indies by nine wickets in the fourth T20I in Florida to level the five-match series 2-2. Batting first after winning the toss, West Indies had posted 178-8. India, though, romped home in 17 overs, with Yashasvi Jaiswal (84* off 51) and Shubman Gill (77 off 47) slamming fine half-centuries.
While reviewing the match on Cricbuzz, Patel credited Kuleep for yet another impressive bowling effort.
“Kuldeep Yadav once again was outstanding. He got the two most important wickets of the West Indies batting line-up – Rovman Powell, who has been scoring runs in this series. We know how good a form Nicholas Pooran is in. That’s what we expect out of Kuldeep Yadav. He is always trying to take wickets and that’s exactly what he has been doing throughout this series.
“Kuldeep’s seventh over turned the game around in India’s favour. West Indies were going along nicely, and then Kuldeep comes in and gets two wickets in an over,” the former Indian stumper commented.
Pooran tried to take on Kuldeep but was caught at long-on, while Powell was caught at slip off a googly.
“Every Indian bowler was looking to take wickets” – Parthiv Patel
Sharing his thoughts on India’s overall bowling effort, Patel observed that everyone was looking to take wickets, which was the most impressive aspect of their performance in the field. The former player said:
“India were very smart with their bowling line-up. I thought Arshdeep Singh was brilliant. Though he was hit for a boundary, he came back and bowled a beautiful bouncer to Kyle Mayers.
“Every Indian bowler was looking to take wickets. They were not looking to be defensive, and that’s the reason why India could restrict West Indies to 178, which was a below par score.”
Patel also added that India’s fielding performance was outstanding:
“We saw Sanju Samson taking an outstanding catch. We saw Kuldeep Yadav taking a brilliant catch at third man and Tilak Varma taking a brilliant catch at long-on.
“All in all, it was an outstanding, disciplined bowling and fielding performance by India.”
The deciding T20I of the India vs West Indies T20I series will be played in Florida on Sunday (August 13).