India lost by five wickets against West Indies in the third and final ODI match in Mullanpur on Saturday. The home team scored 351/7 in reply to West Indies' innings, with KL Rahul remaining unbeaten on 129, while Rohit Sharma scored a well-paced 92 runs off 85 balls. West Indies batted out the last ten balls of the chase, scoring an incredible unbeaten 162 by Shai Hope.

Meanwhile, despite already having clinched the series win after two ODIs, the home team faced multiple challenges ahead of the 2027 ODI World Cup. In particular, the Indian bowlers were ineffective against the West Indies batters, and Shai Hope's unbeaten century made this a thrilling five-wicket victory for West Indies.

Shubman Gill points to powerplay and death-over struggles

After the defeat, India captain Shubman Gill said that the team's inability to take wickets during the powerplay and death overs played a major role in the debacle. According to Gill, the fact that they didn't create early breakthroughs made it extremely hard for their bowlers to find chances during the middle overs.

“I think bowling in the powerplay and in the death has been something that has hurt us. And if you don't get off to a good start in the powerplay, we have seen in the middle overs, it's not easy to take wickets. It's not easy to create chances with only four fielders being outside. The intensity of the game, which it goes at, becomes completely different if you don't take wickets; if you don't keep taking wickets in either in the powerplay or in the middle overs,” Gill said during the post-match press conference.

The India skipper also blamed the high-scoring nature of the series, saying that the lack of wickets taken during middle overs had made life especially hard for their bowlers.

“And, you know, that's the reason why this series has been so high-scoring, cause it's been difficult for the bowlers to take wickets in the middle overs. Even today, we lost two wickets in the powerplay, but we still managed to get 350 on the board,” he added.

Gill also lamented his team's fielding, revealing that the side dropped a number of catches in the third ODI and had been below par in that department for the series as well.

“I don't know how many; I think we dropped around three or four catches today. And I don't know if Shai Hope was dropped, but still dropping three or four catches breaks the momentum of the team. Our fielding in the series, I would say, has not been up to the mark. I think in the whole series, we dropped around seven catches, if I'm not wrong. And even in the field today, we gave away many, many runs,” Gill said.

Shubman Gill warns India must improve before 2027 World Cup

The India captain acknowledged that the combination of their missed chances and underachieving bowling attack had made their jobs exceptionally hard, especially since the pitch had provided little help to them.

“We were quite sloppy. And I think, leading up to the World Cup, these are the areas where we definitely need to get better at. We need to be at the peak of our powers, especially when we're in the field. It's not easy for the bowlers, so the fielders can help a lot. And if the wicket is not helping much for the bowlers and our fielding is sub-standard, it's a difficult job for the bowlers,” he added.

The defeat drew India's ODI series against their rivals to a close with a 2-1 victory for the opposition. However, the series win will be the bigger takeaway for Gill and the management, since India's struggles with the ball and in the field provide them with ample areas to work on when facing the 2027 World Cup.