Ind vs WI: Pressure builds on Shreyas as bowlers fail to rein in Hope & Co

• India and West Indies enter fifth T20I level at 2-2 after visitors win Hyderabad match.

• India's execution with the ball, particularly in the middle and death overs, comes under scrutiny.

• Shreyas Iyer faces crucial test as India weigh youth development against need for experienced bowlers.

The gap between India, the back-to-back T20 World Cup champions, and the West Indies seems almost non-existent, judging by the way Shai Hope’s men have gone about their business in the ongoing T20I series. With the series tied 2-2 after the West Indies kept Shreyas Iyer’s men at bay in the fourth match in Hyderabad, it is anyone’s series ahead of the series decider in Bengaluru on Saturday, 17 October.

The heat will certainly be on Shreyas, who was elevated to the hot seat only last June after Suryakumar Yadav was rather unceremoniously removed from the leadership role as well as the team, barely months after retaining the T20 World Cup crown in March. A harsh decision by any stretch of the imagination, though one has to admit that the new captain was handpicked after due diligence, given that the 31-year-old Shreyas had done the hard yards in the IPL as well as for Mumbai in the T20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

While it is still too early to pass judgement, Shreyas appeared to have picked up the pieces after a disastrous start to his tenure, which included losing a series to Ireland for the first time and suffering a 4-0 drubbing in England.

Yet the Men in Blue seem to be struggling to find a Plan B against Hope’s men. When the visitors chased down a total of over 250 in Ranchi, the defeat was blamed on the dew. With no such excuse available in Hyderabad in the fourth match, Shreyas attributed the West Indies’ charge to 247 to his bowlers’ poor execution of line and length.

"Yeah, it all started with bowling. I think we didn’t execute our line and length well and, at the end of the day, chasing 250, you have to go in a certain pattern when you’re coming in chasing. So I like the approach when we were chasing, but we were unfortunate we couldn’t execute our plans in bowling and that's where we fell a bit short," Shreyas said after the match.

The last time India lost a T20I series to the West Indies was during the 2023 tour, when they went down 3-2. Should history repeat itself, pressure will begin to mount on a team that has largely dominated the format since losing the 2023 ICC World Cup final.

India have enjoyed an extended purple patch since their 2024 T20 World Cup triumph in the United States and the Caribbean. Such runs cannot last indefinitely, and a transition will eventually have to begin. There are, however, weaknesses in their armour that are becoming increasingly difficult to conceal — many of them stemming from the lack of guile in the new-look pace attack during the middle and death overs.

The absence of Jasprit Bumrah, who was part of the Asian Games campaign, and Hardik Pandya, the senior seam-bowling all-rounder, has made a qualitative difference to the Indian attack. Yet there is logic in head coach Gautam Gambhir investing in young fast bowlers such as Mayank Yadav and Prince Yadav. With the next T20 World Cup two years away, the team management will want to build a contingency plan well in advance.

Praising the West Indies for regaining control after India threatened to build momentum during the chase of a steep target, Shreyas said their ability to respond under pressure had made the difference.

"Even though the momentum shifted towards us in between, still the ability to bounce back was top-notch, and I’m sure the fifth one would be an interesting one," the captain added.