Mon Mar 2 ’26 by KRISSANIA YOUNG
The opener has come under heavy criticism after his 33-ball 32
West Indies captain Shai Hope admits his innings against India in Sunday’s Super Eight match at the ICC T20 World Cup could have been the difference between the two teams in his side’s five-wicket loss.
Asked whether a more aggressive approach on his part could have led to the Caribbean side adding 15-20 runs to their first innings total of 195 for 4, the Barbadian replied: “Yes, that’s my answer, yes.”
Hope hit three boundaries and a maximum before he was bowled by Varun Chakravarthy on 32 with the 33rd delivery ending his innings. His wicket was the first to fall, leaving the West Indies 68 for 1 in the 9th over.
“It’s one of those things; sometimes you just can’t get the ball away,” Hope said. “As much as you would like to come in and hit every ball six times, it’s not happening.”
His strike rate (96.96) was the lowest among the West Indian innings. The next lowest was Sherfane Rutherford, who scored his 14 in 9 balls (155.55). Hope attributed his steady beating to several factors.
“I hit a few fielders, so it didn’t help,” he began. “And then I thought they bowled quite well, to be honest. Obviously I wanted to bat a bit deep into the innings and face most of the spin threat in the middle. But I just couldn’t get going.”
Opening partner Roston Chase scored his 40 in 25 deliveries to help West Indies to 45 without loss after six overs. Hope insists a modest powerplay with wickets in hand seemed an acceptable trade-off at the time.
‘Yes, we would like that [score] 65-70 in the powerplay but we had no wickets,” he explained. “So we basically had a platform set. We were 45 without a loss in the power play. With the batting depth we have. I don’t see it as a big problem.”
India wrapped up the win at 199 for 5, with four deliveries to spare, thanks to opener Sanju Samson’s unbeaten 97 (50). Hope further clarified that he was in no way idealizing Windies’ powerplay efforts.
The 32-year-old said: ‘I’m going to cry [out] for much more. These are the standards we set as a team. But like I said, I don’t think I hit bad. It was just me hitting the fielders and then trying to play the situation a bit more. But hey, I’ll take the blame if that’s what you want me to say.”
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