India vs. West Indies: India has a full T20 calendar planned up ahead of the flagship tournament in Australia commencing October 16 to make amends and rebuild the team.
Team India’s Rohit Sharma-led squad is brimming with intriguing new talent and is focused on the T20 World Cup in exactly eight months’ time when it takes on the West Indies in Kolkata on Wednesday. Despite being the pre-tournament favorites, India crashed out of the T20 World Cup group stage in October-November in the United Arab Emirates. Due to the shambolic campaign, the team’s combination and temperament were exposed, destroying Virat Kohli’s final T20 captaincy.
With a grueling T20 schedule ahead of the World Cup opener in Australia, India will try to make amends and rebuild the team.
Rohit, who has led Mumbai Indians to five IPL titles, will be looking to resolve issues such as the opening blues, the middle-lower order conundrum, and also the bowling strategy.
And he’ll have a lot of fun attempting to assemble a strong team while suffering from a joyful headache.
With a contract of Rs 15.25 crore from Rohit Sharma’s team Mumbai Indians, IPL wicketkeeper-batter I. Kishan recently struck gold at the mega auction.
There were a total of ten players from the current squad that signed lucrative deals. The likes of Shreyas Iyer, Harshal Patel, and Shardul Thakur were all of the interest (Delhi Capitals, Rs 10.75 crore).
It’s the first one.
The first question would be who would be the best opening pair for the skipper in the shortest format, with KL Rahul out with a left hamstring strain, as a replacement for the skipper.
To begin their three-match ODI series against the Caribbean squad in Ahmedabad, Ishan opened with Rishabh Pant and Shikhar Dhawan. However, the skipper also tried out Rishabh Pant.
Ruturaj Gaikwad, a red-hot Maharashtrian runner, is another option for Rohit, but he has just been warming the bench recently.
As for KKR all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer, who gained notoriety in the UAE leg of the last IPL as an explosive opener with 320 runs at an average of 40 with a strike rate as high as 125% with an impressive strike rate of 125 He was only a few runs behind Gaikwad, who had a total of 407.
Also fascinating to see if Virat Kohli comes out to open the batting, given that he has been going through a run of poor form. The last time he hit a century in an international match was in November 2019 in the pink ball day/night Test against Bangladesh at this location.
Problems of a more basic and fundamental nature
Until India’s opening match against Pakistan in the T20I World Cup on October 23, they have a busy white ball schedule.
If Ishan is already on the team, it could be a good idea for the think tank to give Pant some much-needed rest.
Shreyas Iyer and Surkyakumar Yadav will be able to play together on Rohit’s side for the first time. In the just-finished one-day international series, the pair performed admirably.
At an average of 52.00, Suryakumar was the leading run-scorer in the ODI series, while Iyer’s match-winning 80 in the third ODI helped the hosts to an emphatic victory.
With Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, and Harshal Patel, India also has some exciting lower-order alternatives.
In his first appearance in the series against New Zealand following the World Cup, Patel impressed with an 11-ball 18 to lift India’s total to a match-winning 184/7 from 140/6.
Bishnoi will take a look at the situation and be optimistic.
It remains to be seen if Rajasthan’s exciting leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi receives his first call up to the Indian team following his impressive return series in the ODIs. Yuzvendra Chahal would be the regular spin option for India going forward.
After a stellar performance in the Indian Premier League and domestic leagues, he was named for the series.
Injured Washington Sundar has cast doubt on whether or not the Jodhpur-born youngster would get his first international call-up.
West Indies strive for improvements
The West Indies, captained by Kieron Pollard, would want to put up a good fight in the T20 format despite their poor showing in the one-day series.
The Windies, who have a strong T20 squad, came into this match after a thrilling 3-2 series win over England at home.
The West Indies bat deep and have a few aggressive batters, so they should be able to compete with India.
With a career-best 5/27 in the final one-day international against England, Jason Holder was in good form for them and claimed four wickets in four balls.
At a location where they won the T20 World Cup in 2016, Pollard’s men have fascinating all-around alternatives in Odean Smith and Akeal Hosein.
Concern with dew factor?
Dew can be a problem for both sides at Eden due to the coolness in the air.
For the three games that will be played in five days, the CAB has prepared four pitches.
Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Venkatesh Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar make up India’s Twenty20I squad.
Captain Kieron Pollard and deputy captain Nicholas Pooran lead a West Indies team that includes: Fabian Allen, Daniel Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Roston Chase, Sheldon Cottrell, Dominic Drakes, and Jason Holder. Other players include Shai Hope and Akeal Hosein. Brandon King and Rovman Powell.
7 p.m. IST is when the match begins.
