T20 Series: Never lose Hope for the West Indies with their captain around

At an era where most saleable names from the West Indies are used to fat pay checks from the IPL franchises, Shai Hope has only had one season with Delhi Capitals in 2024 with moderate success. However, things may soon change after their white ball captain’s breathtaking 102 off 45 balls on Friday which embarrassed the back-to-back T20 World Cup champions at home in the second T20I.

 The likes of Shimron Hetmyer, Sherfane Rutherford or Rovman Powell are the ones more sought after as power hitters while Hope – the wicketkeeper-batter - is meant to act more as a stabilising force in an explosive but often unpredictable batting line-up. However, it was a different Hope in Ranchi who went all guns blazing after his team were reeling at five for two inside the first over while chasing a mammoth 250-run target.

 The 32-year-old found an able ally in Rutherford and their 128-run partnership for the fourth wicket was a throwback to how Caribbean power can achieve the seemingly impossible when they are in the zone. He struck nine of the 20 sixes the visitors hit during their chase while they hit 21 fours in all – resulting in 204 of their runs coming from hits to the fence alone.

One of the most objective tributes for his effort came India head coach Gautam Gambhir in the post-match press conference. ‘’Shai (Hope) is a world class cricketer,” Gambhir said, going on to add: “We respect him for what he’s done in white ball cricket, not only in the 50-over format but in this format as well. His record speaks for him. What he did today, especially after losing two wickets (in the first over).

‘’To continue batting at run-rate of 12-plus (an over) with Sherfane just shows how good they are when the wicket is flat and there’s dew. He batted deep which was important and in the end he finished the game. He was able to pace his innings really well,” Gambhir said. It’s a fact that dew did make the lives of the spinners tough, with the usually mingy Axar Patel the worst-hit (3.3-0-63-0) and Kuldeep Yadav also not far behind, but credit should be given to the West Indies for not letting the required run-rate creep up in such a long chase.

Gambhir maintained that the opening wickets by Mayank Yadav were not enough to determine the outcome against a side capable of recovering from setbacks and sustaining its intensity throughout a T20 match. “I’ve played enough cricket to know that games are not decided in the first over. They are a strong T20 side and we respect them,” he said. “We know how dangerous they are. A game of cricket is won and lost when you play consistently for a period of 40 overs.”

The five-match series now tied at 1-1; both teams virtually have no recovery time as they meet for the third T20I in less than 48 hours’ time in Indore on Sunday. The explosive innings from Hope and the impact of this stupendous chase would now plant a seed of doubt in captain Shreyas Iyer’s mind as what total would suffice to contain the West Indians.

Much as these two teams keep colliding at regular intervals, one is reminded of their crucial Super Eight game of the last T20 World Cup game at the Eden Gardens earlier this year. In a virtual quarter final for both teams, the West Indies piled up a decent 195 alright but skipper Hope was under scanner for some slow batting as he scraped together a 32 off 33 balls in an almost ODI-like approach.

 A fiercely proud Barbadian, Hope owned it up that evening and said he failed to accelerate as he was trying to take the match deep. His country, which looked allround and was one of the title favourites, exited the tournament as India ensured a spot in the semis.

 May be, it’s a redemption act Hope was seeking for!