WI vs IND: Debutant Tilak Varma picks screamer to dismiss Johnson Charles in opening T20I

Debutant Tilak Varma picked up a phenomenal catch to dismiss Johnson Charles in the opening T20I of the series at Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad. The incident happened in the eighth over of the match, when Charles decided to take on Kuldeep Yadav and attempted a slog sweep with the hope of clearing the boundary. However, the 34-year-old failed to make a proper connection but it was supposed to fall on a no man’s land.

However, looking at a possible catch, Varma ran from the deep mid-wicket region for about 15 metres and dived towards his left to pick up a fantastic catch, to say the least. Commentator Ian Bishop was stunned by his efforts and lauded him for taking a brilliant catch in the middle. Notably, the 20-year-old showcased exceptional presence of mind as he alerted other nearby fielders not to come close and also eventually managed to grab the ball, despite it being far away.

"𝗛𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗴𝗲.”@TilakV9

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.#INDvWIAdFreeonFanCode #WIvIND pic.twitter.com/1O9KQsBOOx

— FanCode (@FanCode) August 3, 2023

Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh pick two each as Windies post 149

After sitting out in the entire ODI series, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal finally got some game time in the first T20I. On his return, the 33-year-old looked impressive, picking up two wickets in the process. Arshdeep Singh, too looked brilliant with the ball as the youngster too picked up two wickets.

On the other hand, Kuldeep Yadav’s remarkable form continues as the left-arm wrist spinner picked up one wicket but was extremely economical. Meanwhile, even though T20I debutant Mukesh Kumar failed to pick any, he looked in good touch and can prove to be a vital piece of India’s T20 World Cup squad, which is reported to begin on June 3, 2024.

For West Indies, Nicholas Pooran (41) and skipper Rovman Powell (48) showed a lot of character, while others struggled to get going. Courtesy of their effort, West Indies posted 149 runs on board as the Hardik Pandya-led side will back themselves to get the job done.