India lose to Western Australia: 5 big talking points from 36-run loss in practice match

After winning the first warm-up match against the Western Australia team ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 in Perth, Australia, the Indian cricket team suffered a disappointing 36-run loss in the second fixture on Thursday. Chasing the target of 169 runs, India failed to fire with the bat as stand-in skipper KL Rahul emerged as the lone fighter. On the bowling front, Ravichandran Ashwin emerged as the highest wicket-taker for India in the first innings, picking three wickets in four overs. 

Here are the five big talking points about India’s loss against Western Australia on Thursday. 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s wicket-less tally

Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled two overs in the game but failed to pick up even a single wicket to his name. Bhuvneshwar went for 15 runs at an economy rate of 7.50. 

Deepak Hooda’s expensive figures

All-rounder Deepak Hooda proved to be very expensive with the ball as he conceded 22 runs in the two overs that he bowled in the game. Hooda went for 22 runs at an economy rate of 11.00. 

Rishabh Pant’s struggle continues

Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant once again struggled to score runs for his team as he was dismissed by Jason Behrendorff for 9 off 11 balls. Pant hit just one six in his 9-run knock. 

No support for KL Rahul

Vice-captain KL Rahul finished as the top run-getter for the Indian side, scoring 74 off 55 balls. However, due to a lack of support from other batters, the Indian team failed to chase down the target. 

Lower-middle order failing to score runs

The lower-middle order woes were once again on the show for India as they failed to put on runs towards the backend of their innings. Axar Patel, Dinesh Karthik, Harshal Patel, and Ravichandran Ashwin scored just 16 runs between them. 

India in the 2022 T20 World Cup

India will kickstart its 2022 T20 World Cup campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 23. Prior to the main event, India are slated to play two warm-up matches against Australia and New Zealand as part of their preparation for the marquee tournament.  

Team India's schedule: 

India vs Pakistan: October 23, Sunday 

India vs A2: October 27, Thursday 

India vs South Africa: October 30, Sunday 

India vs Bangladesh: November 2, Wednesday 

India vs B1: November 6, Sunday 

India squad for ICC T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.

Image: BCCI