2 min readOct 15, 2026 10:40 AM IST
Former India batter Mohammed Kaif did not mince words as he slammed the T20I side after their crushing defeat to the West Indies in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
Shreyas Iyer’s men endured another brutal century from West Indies captain Shai Hope, who slammed his fourth ton in seven matches on the tour since last month. Hope’s hundred propelled the visitors to a massive 247-run total, a bridge too far for India as they suffered a 24-run defeat.
Kaif lambasted India’s combination throughout the five-match series, which currently stands 2-2 ahead of the final T20I at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Kaif criticised India’s bowling attack, stating that the current set-up will prove insufficient when they plan to defend their T20 World Cup title two years later.
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“The truth here as to why the Indian team lost is because of their bowling. The blame should go to them. 247 is a lot of runs. We lost because we bowled badly. There were too many runs on the board. Also, this is not happening for the first time. What happens in a five-match series is that usually batters win you three games, and bowlers win you the other matches. Here, bowlers are not winning you games at all. You will never win the World Cup with this combination,” Mohammad Kaif said on Cricbuzz.
India’s front-line pacers Mayank Yadav and Arshdeep Singh leaked 104 runs in eight overs, while Axar Patel conceded 45 runs in four overs. Prince Yadav emerged as the pick of the bowlers with figures of 1 for 36.
Following the defeat, India captain Iyer said that his side had fallen behind with the ball up front.
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“It all started with bowling. I think we didn’t execute our line lengths well and see at the end of the day, chasing 250, you have to go in a certain pattern when you’re coming and chasing. So I like the approach when we were chasing, but we were unfortunate we couldn’t execute our plans in bowling, and that’s where we fell a bit short,” Iyer said during the post-match presentation.
