Florida: After losing the Twenty20 series to the West Indies 3-2 on Sunday, coach Rahul Dravid claimed India must enhance their batting depth for the 50-overs World Cup.
A young Indian team without some big names clawed back from 0-2 down in the five-match series but lost to West Indies by eight wickets at Lauderhill, with opener Brandon King scoring an unbeaten 85.
India scored 165-9 in 20 overs with Suryakumar Yadav scoring 61 from 45 balls. Nicholas Pooran (47) helped King lead the West Indies to 171-2 in 18 overs.
Dravid said mistakes were made in the series but hoped their one-day team would do better in the World Cup, which India will host from Oct. 5 to Nov. 19.
Our one-day team is very different from this squad. But sure, it didn’t allow us to tweak the combinations a little bit,” Dravid told reporters.
However, we must improve in key areas moving forward. Our batting needs depth.
Scores are rising as these games progress. Alzarri Joseph, a powerful number 11, played for the West Indies. Deep sides. That’s a problem.”
Dravid said India showed grit to level the series after a terrible start but their batters might have done better throughout.
That’s possible. “It’s a young, developing team, so we’ll have ups and downs,” he said. “We’re disappointed. To win from 0-2 down was special.”
