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Another straightforward victory over the West Indies appeared to be in the cards as Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan sped to a 90-run opening stand in the second ODI encounter. Before the most unlikely outcome occurred, India had not lost an ODI match against the two-time world champions in four years, and the series was anticipated to be over on Saturday evening. West Indies, who just this month missed out on qualifying for the 2023 ODI World Cup, successfully chased down the goal of 182 after India lost 10 wickets for 91 runs as a result of Gill's dismissal.
After the game, incensed Indian supporters criticized the team's head coach Rahul Dravid for his decision to rest two of the team's senior hitters, captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, while the batting order also appeared to be in chaos. Sanju Samson, a batting option for India at No. 5 or 6, was asked to come in at No. 3. This was his first ODI match since November 2022. Then, Suryakumar Yadav was placed at No. 6 and Axar Patel was placed at No. 4, ahead of temporary captain Hardik Pandya.
The Indian cricket team's supporters were furious with Dravid and feared a repeat of the World Cup tragedies of 2007, wholly unconvinced by the strategy that cost them the game. India, under Dravid's leadership, suffered their worst World Cup performance 16 years ago when they lost to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and were eliminated in the group round.
On Tuesday, India will play the final ODI of the series before the tour continues with the T20I encounter. India's final ODI match before the Asia Cup will therefore be this one.
