India is scheduled to play a total of five T20s with the West Indies. The first match begins on August 03, 2023, at 8 pm IST. Brian Lara Cricket Academy will host the first T20 between the visitors and the hosts. Hardik Pandya makes a comeback as a skipper. As for the Indies, Rovman Powell is taking that cap on his head to give a little break to Shai Hope after the ODI series 2-1 defeat.
Brian Lara Cricket Academy is majorly a T20 pitch. This is evident from the kind of performance that the hosts demonstrate in the shorter format. They have won the World Cup in this format two times – 2012 and 2016. West Indies are the only players to have won the ICC T20 World Cup 2 times.
That is all gone to dust following their disqualification from the ICC ODI World Cup 2023. That came as a setback for West Indies; however, that has also made them more desperate for a series win. Especially the one where they have ruled the game for a long time. Pandya will have a tough time defending any level of total that his batters put up.
Players to look out for are Shai Hope, the skipper himself, and Brandon King. India is likely to hope that Shubham Gill brings back his IPL form for consecutive centuries. T20 is a segment where Suryakumar Yadav shines the most. The 32-year-old right-handed batter has not been his best self in the ODI series. That could change at any moment now, pretty easily for someone who has 3 international centuries in the format from 46 innings. That is simply not enough. Yadav carries the legacy of registering 13 half-centuries for a total of 1,675 runs at an average of 46.53.
Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson are both likely to find a spot on the squad. Kishan demonstrated his ability to play big as an opener, while Samson took care of the 4th spot in the absence of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant.
The bowling unit of the West Indies will have to stretch a lot more than it can. Alzarri Joseph and Akeal Hosein can only bear the load to a certain extent. India is landing with a lot of options in that department. Arshdeep Singh is returning to the squad. The left-arm fast-medium pacer has played 26 international T20 innings. His number of wickets stands at 41 at an economy of 8.4. Not to forget, he has done a good job in replacing Bumrah in the death overs.
Umran Malik was not up to the mark in the ODI series. T20 could be a different league for him, a chance to prove his worth. Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal returning as a spin-duo will have a huge impact on the bowling line-up. They can handle the middle overs better than others, even at a time when the pitch is not turning the ball for them.India and West Indies enter the pitch, with India carrying better chances to win per top cricket betting sites.
T20 is a game that changes every over. So, this could change too.The remaining four T20 matches will be hosted by West Indies in the days to come.
