West Indies vs India 2019: Virat Kohli not Happy with Rain Delays

The Indian cricket team faced off against the West Indies in the first of three ODI matches. Unfortunately, both teams were at the mercy of the elements as rain constantly interrupted the match. Ultimately, it got to a point where the match had to be called off entirely with just 13 overs bowled. Indian skipper Virat Kohli was visibly frustrated with the rain gods and dubbed the stoppages as the ‘worst’ thing in cricket.

The start of the series opener was initially delayed by 90 minutes, courtesy morning showers. As a result, the match was reduced to 43-overs a side, but Mother Nature was not finished yet. In the wake of two interruptions in the play the match was abandoned.

Fed to the teeth, Virat Kohli said, “It’s probably the worst part of cricket, a stop-start is never a good feeling. Either it should rain out or play the full game. The more stops you have, the more you want to be careful to ensure that the players don’t injure themselves.”

“A few pitches might have good pace and bounce, while others can be a bit slower and difficult. So you have assess them and play accordingly.”

Virat Kohli won the toss and put West Indies to bat first on the pitch, but 5.4 overs into the match, the heavens opened. The good news was that play resumed after an hour with game reduced to 40-overs-per side.

In order to avoid burning precious daylight, everyone rushed back onto the field once the sun came out. Unfortunately, they still had to wait for the ground staff to dry the pitch completely, causing another delay.

Moods darkened as the players were shuttled back and forth between their respective dressing rooms. In the meantime, another lengthy delay saw the match  further reduced to 34 overs-per-side.

West Indies opener Evin Lewis gave pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar a massive headache by smashing him for a six. Kumar was not the only victim of Lewis, as the other Indian pacers were hammered. Evin Lewis snatched 15 runs from a single over in the process, with Khaleel as the unfortunate person at the receiving end.

However it was not all going in West Indies’ direction as Chris Gayle continued to struggle with the bat. The veteran played his slowest-ever ODI innings, scoring only four singles in 31 deliveries.

Kuldeep Yadav managed to pick up the wicket of Chris Gayle for 4 in the 11th over even as Evin Lewis started upping the ante from the other end.

But the game lasted just a few more minutes as rain once again stopped play after the 13th over with West Indies reaching 54 for 1 with Evin Lewis (40 not out) and Shai Hope (6 not out) at the crease.