Indian batter Abhishek Sharma emphasised the importance of maintaining a ruthless approach after India defeated the West Indies by 14 runs in the third T20I of the five-match series in Indore. The victory gave India a 2-1 lead in the series.India posted a total of 223 in Indore before restricting the West Indies to 209 for 7. Arshdeep Singh took three wickets while Naman Dhir claimed two, aiding the hosts’ bowling effort. Despite this, West Indies batsman Shamar Springer staged a strong late fightback, scoring an unbeaten 35 off 11 balls, including three sixes and a boundary in the final over.Speaking at the post-match press conference, Sharma, who was India’s top-scorer with 69 runs off 30 balls, said the team was aware of the West Indies’ ability to turn matches around rapidly and the need to deny them any opportunity to recover. He stated, “I think the West Indies is the kind of team against whom you can never say that the match has swung completely in our favor. That was in our minds, because we saw in the last match as well that whichever batter walks in, given the conditions here, it’s very easy for them to take the game away from anywhere. So that was in our minds; even when wickets were falling, the talk in the huddle was that we need to remain ruthless from here on, not let them off the hook, and not give them even a single chance to make a comeback.”Sharma’s comments followed West Indies’ record successful run chase in the second T20I in Ranchi, where they defeated India by six wickets. Chasing 249 for 5 set by India, West Indies reached 252 for 4 in 18.3 overs, powered by captain Shai Hope’s unbeaten 102 off 45 balls and Sherfane Rutherford’s 84 off 37 deliveries, with Romario Shepherd unbeaten on 34 off 13 balls.Sharma highlighted Springer’s aggressive innings as evidence of the West Indies’ capacity to shift momentum swiftly. He added that India concentrated on sustaining their intensity, avoiding poor deliveries, and executing their strategies effectively. “If you saw today, the way Springer batted, I got really surprised by the way he played those shots; they weren’t easy shots. In that case, you have to be on your toes all the time. Even if they are 50 for 5, they have the capability to turn things around. We were very much prepared this time that we had to be ruthless. Even if we had a good powerplay with the ball, we couldn’t afford to give them even one bad ball. We just wanted to execute our plans, and that’s what we did,” he said.
Abhishek Sharma: India had to be ruthless to win T20I vs West Indies
