The Indian cricket team went down to West Indies in the 2nd ODI on Sunday after a catastrophic batting collapse saw the team score only 181 runs. India's defeat in the match left a sour taste in the mouths of fans, especially considering the opening stand that Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan had put. In fact, during the course of his 34-run knock in the match, Gill went on to break Pakistan superstar Babar Azam's long-standing record.
Gill, courtesy of his 2nd ODI performance, went past Babar in the list of batters with the most number of runs after 26 innings in the 50-over format. Babar had 1322 runs to his name after the first 26 ODI innings. Gill, on the other hand, has 1352 runs. Joining the duo in the top 5 are England's Jonathan Trott (1303 runs), Pakistan's Fakhar Zaman (1275 runs) and South Africa's Rassie van der Dussen (1267 runs).
As far as the match is concerned, however, India put in a sorry performance with the bat, going from 90/0 to 181 all-out on Saturday.
West Indies captain Shai Hope played the sheet anchor role to perfection in taking his team to a series-levelling six-wicket victory over India in the second One-Day International of a three-match series at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Saturday.
After his bowlers capitalised on a helpful pitch and an unconvincing India batting effort to dismiss their opponents for 181 off 40.5 overs, Hope's unbeaten 63 and the support of Keacy Carty (48 not out) in an unbroken fifth-wicket partnership of 91 ended a nine-match run of defeats to India in ODIs spanning four years.
It was also a swift comeback in the wake of the Caribbean side's dispiriting five-wicket loss in the opening match at the same venue on Thursday and sets the stage for the series decider on Tuesday at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad.
With AFP inputs