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Team India are in an unusual scenario. They're trailing 0-2 in a best-of-five T20I series against the West Indies, heading into the third game at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on Tuesday, August 8.
While walking down memory lane looking for instances of the Men in Blue being in a similarly precarious situation, the home T20I series against South Africa last year pops out. The Asian giants have only played four five-match T20I series before the ongoing West Indies assignment in their coveted history.
The first was an away series against New Zealand in the 2019/20 season, which India dominated and won 5-0. Following this, the side played a thrilling five-match series against a formidable England team, where they came back from a 1-2 deficit to emerge victorious 3-2.
Then came the previously mentioned South Africa series in mid-last year at home, where Team India went down 0-2, much to the surprise of experts and fans. However, after failing to defend scores at Delhi and Cuttack, a rejuvenated Team India scripted crushing victories in Vishakapatnam and Rajkot in the third and fourth games to set up a mouth-watering decider in Bengaluru.
Unfortunately, inclement weather meant the deciding T20I was washed out with no result after India were reduced to 28/2 in the fourth over.
The spoils were shared by the sides, with the Men in Blue fighting back from a 0-2 deficit to avoid a series defeat. India played another five-match T20I series against the West Indies after the South Africa rubber in 2022 and registered a comfortable 4-1 win.
Therefore, Indian fans can take solace in the fact that the side have never lost a five-match T20I series and bounced back to even the scales the only time they found themselves in a 0-2 hole.
Team India let down by dismal batting in the opening two T20Is against the West Indies
Team India trail 0-2 in the best-of-five T20I series against the hosts West Indies, thanks to their inept batting displays in both games.
Following relatively comfortable Test (1-0) and ODI series (2-1) victories, Hardik Pandya's men looked on course for another convincing win in the opening T20I after restricting the West Indies to 149.
However, wickets at regular intervals and a long tail meant that the Men in Blue suffered a four-run defeat off the final ball at Trinidad.
Renowned for their ability to bounce back, the visitors batted first in the second encounter but suffered a similar batting display, scoring just 152/7 in their 20 overs. The Men from the Caribbean chased the score down with reasonable ease despite a late stutter to take a commanding 2-0 series lead.
Faced with their first T20I series defeat against the two-time T20 World Champions since 2017, Team India are in desperation mode. They need to win all three of their remaining games to keep the proud record intact.
India are also unbeaten in their last 12 bilateral T20I series since a 2-1 defeat to Sri Lanka in 2021.
The third T20I between India and West Indies is set to take place in Guyana on Tuesday, August 8.
