India made a heavy weather of a modest run-chase after debutant pacer Navdeep Saini led an impressive bowling display but still managed to beat West Indies by four wickets in their first T20 International match.
Saini who was hit for a six off his second ball in international cricket came back strongly by picking up two wickets in his first over. His brilliant bowling display of 3/17 in four overs earned praise from his former Delhi captain Gautam Gambhir.
Gautam Gambhir also went on to blast former cricketers Bishan Singh Bedi and Chetan Chauhan who are members of Delhi District Cricket Association. Both the administrators had not supported Gambhir’s plea to get Saini to play for Delhi Ranji team.
‘Kudos Navdeep Saini on ur India debut. U already have 2 wkts even before u have bowled— @BishanBedi & @ChetanChauhanCr. Their middle stumps are gone seeing debut of a player whose cricketing obituary they wrote even before he stepped on the field, shame!!! @BCCI,’ the BJP MP from East Delhi tweeted.
Chasing 96 for a win, India huffed and puffed before reaching the target with 2.4 overs to spare.
None of the batsmen contributed big with opener Rohit Sharma top-scoring with 24 while captain Virat Kohli and Manish Pandey making 19 each.
Saini claimed three wickets for 17 while Bhuvneshwar Kumar took two wickets to restrict West Indies to 95 for 9 after they were put to bat.
(With inputs from PTI)