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Why Rovman Powell needs to step up in the remaining T20Is v India


It may not seem very evident, but there’s a sense of disparity in Rovman Powell’s numbers as batsman. 

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His is a rather uncanny condition going by the traditional view of things that an international cricketer’s first class batting average is supposedly - or generally- higher than his ODI or T20I average. 

Most frontline batsmen that break into the international arena do so at the back of scoring copious runs with their first-class average soaring northwards. 

Instead, Rovman Powell’s first class batting average is 15, would you believe it? 

He has, in fact, scored 383 first class runs, in all. 

The uncanniness becomes evident when you realise his IPL average is about the same as his T20I average playing for the West Indies.

But here’s the fun bit. 


Rovman Powell, who as on August 4, has featured in as many ODI’s as T20I’s (45), has a higher average in the shortest form than fifty-over cricket. 

At 25.07, it appears T20I’s is his thing. Further evidence can be sought from the fact that earlier this year, he fired an impressive, maiden T20 international century and that too, against England. 

It’s also the format he’s currently playing against the mighty Indians. 

More interestingly, it’s also the format where he boasts seven not-outs (thirty five innings), which suggests he emerges unbeaten in every 5.1 innings he plays for his West Indies. 

This year alone, in two of his eight T20I outings, Rovman Powell emerged unbeaten. 

That’s not bad for a batsman who comes right in the middle of the inning with his immediate task either being to score a lot in a lot less time or immediately play the repairman to a broken scoreline. 

And where this year stands, then that’s pretty much what Rovman Powell has done in the short form albeit without much success in the ongoing series. 


What’s surprising is that India happen to be the very side against whom Powell waged a memorable assault earlier in 2022, where his unbeaten 68 all but took Windies home in a crunch T20I. 

And yet, India is very much the side against whom Rovman Powell has hardly looked the Rovman Powell he was as seen against England and Bangladesh earlier: brute, brave and even breathtaking. 

The high point in Powell’s career earlier this year when he was named vice captain of the T20I side. Playing deputy to one of the world’s most gifted strokemakers in Nicholas Pooran wouldn’t have been such a bad high. 

But the low point in Powell’s career, of late, has been his weaknesses against spin, something he’d quite like to rectify in what’s left of the ongoing series. And what’s left are no more than two back to back contests, one each on Saturday and Sunday, with both being on American homeland. 

This shortcoming, is however, strange since thanks to his maiden appearance in the IPL, also this year, Ravi Powell got ample opportunity to read spin and that too, on spin’s most dominant turf: the subcontinent. 

Yet, he’s not been able to come up trumps against Chahal and Bishnoi, the latter cleaning him up when Windies were in India.


What’s worse is that all that Rovman Powell has lasted in this series is 6.3 overs. 

That he’s not been able to bat beyond the sun total of 39 deliveries is a glaring indication of his hit-and-soon-perish outings with the bat (as seen in the games in the Caribbean). 

 That’s when others- Kyle Mayers and Brandon King, most noticeably, have been among the runs and made an impact. 

So the key question Mr. vice captain of Windies is, when are you going to make it count?