“At 66, I’ll smash his bowling”

Former Indian captain Kris Srikkanth slammed West Indian all-rounder Matthew Forde after his woeful showing in the first T20I in Lucknow. The 24-year-old struggled with bat and ball, scoring only a four-ball two and conceding 39 runs off his two overs.

As a result, Team India hammered the West Indies, restricting them to only 171 and winning by eight wickets. Forde aside, Srikkanth was also unimpressed by the overall West Indian side and their selections.

On his YouTube channel, Cheeky Cheeka, after the first T20I, he said (11:40):

“How are you calling Forde an all-rounder? At 66, I’ll smash his bowling. That’s how poorly he’s bowling. Shamar Joseph has become so ordinary with the ball and on the field. Campbell, Jangoo and Seales should be playing in T20Is. Instead, some random guys are playing.”

He continued:

“They are an extremely ordinary side. I can’t understand their team selection at all. Guys like Jangoo and Seales should be in the T20I side. They were in a position to score 190 to 195, and they still collapsed with a so-called long lineup. Everyone just slogged, and it was senseless batting.”

West Indies were in a dominant position at 107/3 in the 12th over before collapsing for 171 in 19.1 overs. The bowlers were just as lifeless as India completed the run chase in 14.4 overs.

“The actual turning point was Hetmyer’s run-out” – Kris Srikkanth

Kris Srikkanth called Shimron Hetmyer’s run-out the turning point of the first India-West Indies T20I, preventing the West Indies from posting a formidable total. The explosive left-hander started promisingly, scoring five off his first two deliveries, before running himself out off a misfield.

“They have the ability to score 190 to 200. But the actual turning point was Hetmyer’s run-out. They never looked like they were building partnerships after Hetmyer got out. Rovman Powell is just slogging blindly. In fact, everyone on their team slogs and gets caught on the boundary. Only a team that has no clue about batting keeps slogging, and the West Indies look like such a team. They look like they don’t know batting at all,” said Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).

Trailing 0-1 in the best-of-five series, the visitors will look to even the series at 1-1 in the second T20I in Ranchi on Friday, October 9.