No shame in losing T20I series to West Indies, it should be a wake-up call: Sunil Gavaskar

India and the West Indies played a riveting five-match T20I series that ebbed and flowed until Rovman Powell's men emerged victorious by a 3-2 margin. The 'Men in Blue' showed great character to level the series after losing the first two games. However, in the series decider, in Lauderhill, Florida, star performances from the likes of Brandon King, Nicholas Pooran, and Romario Shepherd helped the West Indies come out on top, winning with eight wickets to spare.

While the Indian team has come under severe criticism from certain sections, legendary opener Sunil Gavaskar mentioned that there is no shame in losing to the two-time T20 World Cup champions, who have a number of match-winners on their side. Instead, Gavaskar wanted the series loss to serve as a wake-up call for Hardik Pandya and Co.

“The loss to West Indies should not be a dampener. Don’t forget that they have won the ICC T20 World Cup twice, and their players are match-winners for the different franchises they play for in the IPL. So, they are a top-class T20 team, and there’s no shame in losing to them,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.

“It should be a wake-up call, though, to see the areas where India needs to improve to strengthen its side. Some of those who were rested for this series may not be around for too long, so their replacements need to be found pretty quickly too, as the next ICC T20 World Cup is just a year away," he added.

When Sunil Gavaskar was recently felicitated at Queen’s Park Cricket Club

The iconic Sunil Gavaskar is one of the finest batters to have ever played the game. He was recently felicitated by West Indies great Brian Lara during the second Test at Queen's Park Cricket Club, Port of Spain, Trinidad. The second Test marked the 100th Test match between India and the West Indies, and the Queen’s Park Cricket Club members presented him with a memento to commemorate the special occasion. The 74-year-old went on to post pictures with Lara on his Instagram handle.

“With the ‘Prince of Trinidad’, Brian Lara, and Nigel Camacho, president of QPCC, after the lovely felicitation by Queens Park Cricket Club in Trinidad. My home away from home. Much love and gratitude to my West Indian fans,” an ecstatic Gavaskar captioned the post on Instagram.