India’s passage to the semi-finals was confirmed after a brisk Super Eight encounter in Kolkata, yet discussion quickly turned to West Indies’ approach with the bat. Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis and ex-India coach Anil Kumble felt the hosts were rarely stretched.
West Indies posted 195 after being inserted, Roston Chase striking cleanly at more than 190. Shai Hope, by contrast, crawled to 32 from 33 before mis-cuing in the ninth over. A powerplay of 45 without loss looked tidy on paper, but Du Plessis wondered if the visitors had simply been too cautious.
“When we look at West Indies, we spoke about them little bit lacking in the bowling department,” Du Plessis said. “So if you, as a team, know that’s where you are slightly off, and then we’re talking now at the highest level – they don’t have a bad bowling attack, it’s just you comparing the attack to India.
“When your strength lies in your batting, you know that you’re going to have to out-bat the opposition. Therefore, when you’re in a position where you can pull the trigger on making sure you push that score a little bit more, you have to. It’s just almost like a non-negotiable in order to be a team that wins the World Cup for them. They have to score 220-230, so that the bowling adds more pressure.”
Shai Hope’s go-slow, in Du Plessis’ view, left too much to do later. “If they just get a score that’s a good score, it’s always going be tight. Their thing with their batting is, ‘yes, we batted well today, but in order for us to win the World Cup or beat India, we have to win those small moments a little bit better’. In that, that 35 off 35 innings [of Shai Hope], the way that they batted from sixth to the ninth over when there was a little bit of strike rotation, because there, the foundation was done.
“Once again, they batted well, but in order to beat India, you have to do a little bit more.”
Kumble echoed the sentiment. His long-held view is that, when setting a total, holding wickets back rarely pays dividends. “I’ve always believed that in a T20 format, you need to use your resources if you’re batting first, irrespective of who’s in your batting lineup. You’re better off scoring 196 for 9 than being 195 for 4. I understand that the powerplay didn’t go the skipper’s [Shai Hope] way; he was struggling a bit, but the team score was going at a fast pace.”
He added that West Indies, still ten wickets intact after six overs, missed a chance to break India’s rhythm. “Beyond that, once you know that you have ten wickets in hand after the powerplay, only 14 overs, and some serious hitting power still in your dugout, you need to go harder, even if you lose a couple of wickets.”
Both analysts pointed out that two of India’s frontline bowlers – Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy – travelled at more than nine an over, a rarity at Eden Gardens. Bowling, traditionally billed as the Windies’ weaker suit, was therefore always likely to face an uphill task with only a par total for cover.
India’s reply under lights finished the argument, their top order absorbing early spin, then targeting the shorter square boundary. The chase, wrapped up with seven balls spare, underlined the gap Du Plessis and Kumble describe: India can absorb middling phases and still surge, whereas West Indies probably need 220-plus to dictate terms.
There was no finger-pointing inside the West Indies camp after the defeat, and they remain in mathematical contention. Yet the message from two seasoned observers felt clear enough: against a side as rounded as India, “good” scores might not be good enough.
