New Delhi: Teams have demonstrated over the years that there are numerous paths to T20 cricket success. However, the eighth position of your tail is not one of them. But for the second game in a row, India used almost four No. 11s.

India had a good chance of winning the first T20I in Tarouba when they only needed 37 runs from five overs and had six wickets remaining. But they lost Hardik Pandya and Sanju Samson in the following three balls, sending the innings into a tailspin. Kuldeep Yadav entered at No. 8 with 37 needed off of 27 balls. West Indies were the favorites and won the match despite India having four wickets in hand.

Due to Kuldeep's injury on Sunday, India added Ravi Bishnoi, maintaining the same lineup. They were once more in danger of exposing their tail too soon when they were batting first and lost their fourth wicket in the 12th over. It didn't happen, and to their credit, Bishnoi and Arshdeep Singh helped India reach 152 for 7 with a combined 14 runs off seven balls.

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However, India needs to provide their batters with more cushion if they want them to play high-risk cricket as part of their effort to revamp their batting strategy. One more batter must be used.

Having said that, it's not quite that straightforward. In white-ball cricket, India's long-standing issue has been that both their batters and bowlers do not bowl.

India's only choice to improve their batting for the second T20I was to substitute Yashasvi Jaiswal for one of the bowlers. They would have had just five bowlers left after that, though.  Not to mention, Hardik didn't use Axar Patel for even one over during the first 16 overs of the chase because West Indies always had at least one left-handed batter in the middle.

Apart from Axar, who is batting at No. 7, India doesn't currently have any other bowlers in the lineup who wouldn't look out of place at No. 8. This issue could be resolved by a Deepak Chahar or a Shardul Thakur, but as of right now, there is no fix.

Hardik remarked at the post-game presentation, "It is what it is. In the current situation, we have to play with seven batters and trust them to score maximum runs. I have always believed that bowlers win you games. If your batters are having a good day, you don't need much batting beyond one point."

"We need to figure out how we strengthen our No. 8, 9 and 10 as well if we need them to chip in with five-ten runs, though they did that today. We have to find ways to make sure we have the right balance but at the same point, batters need to take more responsibility.”

"If I can be honest, it was not a pleasing batting performance. We could have done a lot better. Wickets kept falling and at the same time, the pitch was playing on the slower side. I think we were not good enough to manage that and get to a total of 160-plus, 170."

India did well to recover toward the end of the chase despite recording a below-average total. Even though the target was still 24 runs away, they had West Indies eight down after 16 overs. The gap between the two lower orders grew even more pronounced at that point.

India's batting effectively came to an end at No. 7, but West Indies' Nos. 9 Akeal Hosein and 10 Alzarri Joseph never seemed to be in any trouble as they completed the victory with one over and one ball remaining. The fact that the asking rate was consistently around six may have played a significant role in their composure. However, even if it had increased, neither batter lacks the ability to clear the boundary, unlike their Indian counterparts.

India might be using these five T20Is as a part of their preparation for the upcoming ODI World Cup. But given that the following T20 World Cup is also less than ten months away, they need to be a little more daring when experimenting with different lineups.

Teams have demonstrated over the years that there are numerous paths to T20 cricket success. However, the eighth position of your tail is not one of them. But for the second game in a row, India used almost four No. 11s.

India had a good chance of winning the first T20I in Tarouba when they only needed 37 runs from five overs and had six wickets remaining. But they lost Hardik Pandya and Sanju Samson in the following three balls, sending the innings into a tailspin. Kuldeep Yadav entered at No. 8 with 37 needed off of 27 balls. West Indies were the favorites and won the match despite India having four wickets in hand.

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Due to Kuldeep's injury on Sunday, India added Ravi Bishnoi, maintaining the same lineup. They were once more in danger of exposing their tail too soon when they were batting first and lost their fourth wicket in the 12th over. It didn't happen, and to their credit, Bishnoi and Arshdeep Singh helped India reach 152 for 7 with a combined 14 runs off seven balls.

However, India needs to provide their batters with more cushion if they want them to play high-risk cricket as part of their effort to revamp their batting strategy. One more batter must be used.

Having said that, it's not quite that straightforward. In white-ball cricket, India's long-standing issue has been that both their batters and bowlers do not bowl.

India's only choice to improve their batting for the second T20I was to substitute Yashasvi Jaiswal for one of the bowlers. They would have had just five bowlers left after that, though.  Not to mention, Hardik didn't use Axar Patel for even one over during the first 16 overs of the chase because West Indies always had at least one left-handed batter in the middle.

Apart from Axar, who is batting at No. 7, India doesn't currently have any other bowlers in the lineup who wouldn't look out of place at No. 8. This issue could be resolved by a Deepak Chahar or a Shardul Thakur, but as of right now, there is no fix.

Hardik remarked at the post-game presentation, "It is what it is. In the current situation, we have to play with seven batters and trust them to score maximum runs. I have always believed that bowlers win you games. If your batters are having a good day, you don't need much batting beyond one point."

"We need to figure out how we strengthen our No. 8, 9 and 10 as well if we need them to chip in with five-ten runs, though they did that today. We have to find ways to make sure we have the right balance but at the same point, batters need to take more responsibility.”

"If I can be honest, it was not a pleasing batting performance. We could have done a lot better. Wickets kept falling and at the same time, the pitch was playing on the slower side. I think we were not good enough to manage that and get to a total of 160-plus, 170."

India did well to recover toward the end of the chase despite recording a below-average total. Even though the target was still 24 runs away, they had West Indies eight down after 16 overs. The gap between the two lower orders grew even more pronounced at that point.

India's batting effectively came to an end at No. 7, but West Indies' Nos. 9 Akeal Hosein and 10 Alzarri Joseph never seemed to be in any trouble as they completed the victory with one over and one ball remaining. The fact that the asking rate was consistently around six may have played a significant role in their composure. However, even if it had increased, neither batter lacks the ability to clear the boundary, unlike their Indian counterparts.

India might be using these five T20Is as a part of their preparation for the upcoming ODI World Cup. But given that the following T20 World Cup is also less than ten months away, they need to be a little more daring when experimenting with different lineups.

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