Explained: Why Yuzvendra Chahal was stopped by the umpires

The bizarre incident between Yuzvendra Chahal, the Indian dugout, and the umpires from the first T20I against the West Indies has been doing the rounds all across social media. As Kuldeep Yadav was dismissed in the final over of the game, spinner Yuzvendra Chahal geared up and walked out to bat. However, in an embarrassing moment, the Indian dugout called out to Chahal, and he was informed that coach Rahul Dravid and skipper Hardik Pandya wanted debutant Mukesh Kumar to bat at number 10. 

Seeing their calls, Chahal attempted to walk back in the dugout, but he was not allowed to do so by the umpires. According to the laws of the game, once a batter steps onto the field after the fall of a wicket, he cannot go back in to send another, which was the reason why the umpires stopped him and Chahal had to bat at number 10.

However, it is unlikely that the result of the game would have changed had Mukesh Kumar came out to bat instead of Chahal. Team India ended up being stunned in the opening T20I as the Windies ran away with a sensational victory.

Subpar batting performances led to India’s loss

The Indian team had a target of 150 runs to chase down in the first T20I of the series, after Rovman Powell and Nicholas Pooran’s knocks in the first innings of the clash. Attempting to chase the target down, the Indian team got off to a horrid start as openers Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill were sent back to the pavilion early on. 

Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav showed glimpses of class but their knocks were unable to propel India towards a win as well. Jason Holder, Obed McCoy, and Romario Shepherd impressed with the ball, taking two wickets each and securing a 4-run victory for the West Indies in the first T20I.