For the thousands packed into the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru hoping for a pulsating finish to the thrilling T20I series between India and West Indies, there was disappointment as rain cut short the game. However, in the end, it was perhaps only fitting that the honours were shared at 2-2.
It has been a series which saw the batters put on a show, but after being reduced to nine overs a side due to rain delay, the Bengaluru game presented challenges in store for the willow wielders.
In a series where almost all the batters have made merry, Naman Dhir had scores of 4*, 10 and 0. Given a chance to showcase his exceptional talent, the batter from Punjab had made more news with the ball than with the bat.
To add to the challenge, the final game of the series had been reduced into a nine-over shoot-out due to a rain-delayed start on Saturday. In such contests, the batter has to make every ball count. Batting second is always an advantage in a rain-affected game but the toss didn’t go India’s way either in the series decider and they found themselves setting the target rather than chasing.
While all the batters showed the intent of going hard, only No 3 Ishan Kishan and opener Sanju Samson could put the West Indies bowlers under some pressure. Kishan made the difference at the start with a 10-ball 30 which included taking 24 runs off the second over bowled by Romario Shepherd.
However, Captain Shreyas Iyer and Tilak Varma batting at No 4 and 5 didn’t quite find the right timing. Shreyas Iyer laboured to a 14-ball 22, but Tilak Varma couldn’t get going and was out for 7 off 6 balls. The pressure was high on India when Dhir walked in.
The young batter seized the opportunity and broke the shackles from ball one, showcasing his potential with an unbeaten 24 off six balls tp help India get to 118/5 when rain stopped play after 7.4 overs. Six balls is not a big sample size, but the way he batted should give him self-belief that he belongs there and the team management a lot of confidence about his potential. It was just clean hitting. There was only one single, the rest of the deliveries went for fours or sixes. Starting with an effortless first ball six, he hit two more sixes and one four.
With the sweet cameo, he would have done enough to impress coach Gautam Gambhir.
In the forgettable 2026 IPL season for Mumbai Indians, he was one of their positives. MI have identified him as one of their main batters, making him bat at No 3 in most of the games as he scored 318 runs at a strike rate of 147.22.
The game also saw the return of Bhuvneshwar Kumar into the playing eleven for the first time in four years. His last international game was in November 2022, and he was due to make his comeback during the New Zealand tour later this month but he was added at the last minute to the India squad as cover for Arshdeep Singh.
Arshdeep was passed fit for the game but India picked Bhuvneshwar as a replacement for Nitish Kumar Reddy who was unavailable for selection due to illness.