'You played like Tigers': Ravi Shastri lauds Team India after the series win against West Indies

India exhibited a terrific batting display in the deciding game of their three-match T20I series against the West Indies at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday to win by 67 runs. After Kieron Pollard won the toss and sent Virat Kohli’s team to bat first, a muscular performance saw the hosts post 240/3 in 20 overs with Rohit Sharma (71), KL Rahul (91) and Kohli (70 not out) hitting at will. The visitors then managed 173 for 8 in their allotted 20 overs to concede the series 1-2.

India won the first match of the series by six wickets in Hyderabad but the West Indies came back strong to equalise it in the second match in Thiruvananthapuram. This is India’s third T20I series win after the World Cup while for the Caribbeans, the reigning champions in T20Is, it was the fourth consecutive series loss in the same format. Pollard’s side recently lost a three-match series against Afghanistan in Lucknow 1-2 after winning the first match. Before that, India thumped them 3-0 in their den.

Ravi Shastri was ecstatic after India bagged their second T20I series 

India head coach Ravi Shastri was ecstatic after India bagged their second successive T20I series after the 2-1 win over Bangladesh last month. In a tweet, he praised the Men in Blue saying they played like Tigers against the “most dangerous team” in the T20 format. As per the ICC rankings, the West Indies are at No.10 at the moment — below Afghanistan and Bangladesh — while India are at No.5 position.

Well done guys. You played like Tigers against the most dangerous team in this format of the game. Respect 🇮🇳🙏 #INDvWI pic.twitter.com/eS938Fy5tD

— Ravi Shastri (@RaviShastriOfc) December 12, 2019

Kohli was chosen as the man of the series for being the highest scorer in the series (183) with one 90 not out. Both Kohli and Rohit are now tied at 2,633 runs in the T20Is although the latter has played 29 matches more.

The Indian team came under criticism for their lacklustre fielding in the first two matches but Wednesday’s performance eclipsed all that. India have lost only three matches since their heart-breaking semi-final loss against New Zealand in the World Cup in July and all of them have been in T20Is — against South Africa, Bangladesh and the West Indies. The hosts now play the Caribbeans in a three-match ODI series starting in Chennai on December 15.

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