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This is Ajay Pal Singh, signing off on behalf of my colleagues Abhishek Sharma, Zeeshan Naiyer, Aman and AkshayaKrishna Polya. Goodnight and goodbye!
India held their nerve tonight to get over the line by 14 runs against a power-packed Windies batting line-up. If not for Arshdeep Singh's spell, things could have turned out very differently for Team India. The action now moves to another high-scoring venue in Hyderabad for the next game. If there's one venue where 300 can be breached, it's the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Uppal.
It was another run-fest in a series that seems to be breaking records with every passing game. The batters are having a ball, while the bowlers, well, the less said about them, the better. Conditions have been so favourable for batting that you can't help but feel for the bowlers.
STAT ATTACK: India's 14-run win is their second-narrowest victory while defending a total against the West Indies in T20Is. Their narrowest was an 8-run win while defending 186/5 in Kolkata in 2022.
Arshdeep Singh (POTM): "[As a bowler, sometimes you want the dry ball. And how was it today?] It was pretty nice. The ball was reversing a bit, and it's always good fun to bowl at death with the ball reversing a little. And it's always nice to bowl in the dew as well, but couldn't do well in the last game, so wanted to do good for the team this time and got the right result.
[On how he handles responsibility of being senior bowler] I mean, there's no such thing as the leader or the senior in the team. The environment is very chill right now, and we are just enjoying each other's success. And whenever someone's having a bad day, we always make sure that we put our shoulders around them and tell them that they are an integral part of the team. And as an international cricketer, you are bound to have good days and bad days. As long as you're level-headed, you'll always come back and do well.
[On how does he maintain that poise in T20s?] I mean, I genuinely love it. I personally love it whenever the batsman go harder to me in the starting and in the death over as well. It's a good challenge, it's good fun, and that's when you get to test yourself, test your skills and test your mental strength as well in that phase of the game. So it's good fun.
[On adjusting to the conditions] The main focus is to just come early, bowl a bit with the new ball, with the old ball, and just sharpen your skills as much as you can. And then, as you said, the schedule is always tight. You just have to adapt quickly. The team which adapts quickly is mostly the team that gets on the right side of the result. So as a team, we just try to adapt and play according to the conditions."
Player of the Match: Arshdeep Singh
Shreyas Iyer [India Captain]: "[Congratulations on having a drier ball and winning the game. Which one will you take first?] Probably both, I would say, but the first one would be for the ball staying dry.
[What difference does a dry ball make as a captain? How was tonight?] Well, it was wonderful, honestly, when the bowlers were upto the mark. They were pretty confident. The clarity was very much visible when I was interacting with them. They were decisive in their execution, and when I was passing the ball to them, each and every one was ready to take the challenge, and that is what we want.
[What did you make of the start that you had and the fact that it went away two matches in a row?] That was a phenomenal start we got from Abhishek Sharma. Those crucial runs in the powerplay. We all know what he offers to the team. And then Ishan Kishan coming and taking on the bowlers. He has been simply remarkable in the last couple of months. And then in between also, we never let West Indies take on the charge, even though we kept on losing wickets. We steadied the ship in the middle order as well. That took us to a commendable total of 223. Even Prince coming and playing that cameo at the end, those were useful runs, I felt. And yeah, with the West Indies team, I personally feel that you cannot take them lightly because you know there are a lot of game changers in the team, and anyone can win the match. So yeah, we got to stay positive throughout the game and see to it that we are not complacent at any point in time.
[On the next 2 matches' venue. They are high-scoring as well.] Yes, absolutely. Both of them are high-scoring grounds. It is important to stick to our process and the routines which we have been following. Also, see to it that we are offensive enough in our approach and that the attitude is top-notch."
Most Fours in the Match: Abhishek Sharma [6 fours]