'We needed one batter to stay till the end'

'This format is all about momentum.'

Left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh brushed aside concerns around India's long tail after their shock defeat in the first T20 International against the West Indies, saying such things are only discussed after a defeat.

The list of specialist batters ended with Sanju Samson at number six in the first game of the five-match series, which India lost by four runs.

"Not really," said Arshdeep when asked about the concerns around the batting order that has Axar Patel, a left-arm spinner who has vastly improved with bat in recent times, at number seven.

"These kind of things always comes after the end of the match. The playing XI we fielded, we were confident that we would win the match. We always back our playing XI whether it has six bowlers or nine. It doesn't matter at all," he added.

Arshdeep, who conceded four wides in the penultimate over of the West Indies innings, said the Indian team will "review" the loss.

Chasing a modest target of 150, India were restricted to 145/9 as the West Indies prevailed by four runs at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad.

While the extras bowled in the 19th over may have made the difference to the final outcome, Arshdeep tried his bit with the bat and hit two fours in his seven-ball 12 that nearly took India home after the fancied visitors self-destructed.

"I guess we needed one batter to stay till the end because in their last two over, five fielders were inside the 30 yard circle," the 24-year-old player said at the post-match press conference.

"We will review the match. What we could have done better in the first innings. Where we could have kept things tight and as a batting unit in the second innings where did we miss the finishing part."

The game was in the balance when skipper Hardik Pandya was bowled by the seasoned Jason Holder with India needing 37 off 29 balls.

India then required 10 off the final over with three wickets in hand but couldn't seal the game in their favour.

In the 19th over of the India innings, Arshdeep struck two fours to keep India in the fray but he could not get the team over the line.

"Any player who is in that kind of situation do believe that he can win the match for the team. When you play for your country, you always get that extra push," he said.

The highly-promising Tilak Varma shone on his international debut with a 22-ball 39 but Arshdeep said his wicket was not the turning point of the match.

"I can't say it was the turning point. It is his style of playing. He plays a lots of attacking shots and in those he will gives chances but as we have seen, he is massively talented and he did so well on his debut, when he was immensely under pressure and not to forget we were chasing.

"He played few beautiful shots and I think he should always back his game and in the future he will help team win a lot of matches," Arshdeep said.

The teams will play the next two matches in Guyana with the final two games scheduled for Lauderhill, Florida next week.

"This format is all about momentum. In a game, you can see how momentum shifts from one side to another. We still got to play four matches and we would try to do well in those," Arshdeep said.

• India in West Indies 2023