India take on a strong Caribbean side in one-off T20I
India and the West Indies will be meeting in the only T20I of the tour on Sunday. The game will be played at Sabina Park in Jamaica. It will begin at 9 PM IST.
Both the teams are loaded with some big names and a lot will depend on them. This promises to be the most evenly matched contest of India’s tour of the West Indies.
Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Carlos Brathwaite, all return to the West Indies team. India has the same squad as they look for another limited overs series win.
Last year when both of these teams met, they produced a blockbuster. The 245 v 244 game in Florida is still fresh in the memories. If it’s anything to go by, then we are in for a treat.
They are all power hitters the West Indians and it will be matched by India’s touch batsmen. Spinners will be key in this game as well.
Evin Lewis of the Windies have a strike rate of 137 in the T20I’s compared to 77 in the ODI’s. He will obviously be a key batsmen for them as he is pretty good in this format.
Slower bowlers like Sunil Narine and Kuldeep Yadav will be holding an important position in both squads. They will be trusted by their captains for delivering what he wants.
If Kohli opens for India then Rahane will have to come later. And it will be a good competition between Ashwin and Jadeja as to who plays.
Probable line-ups :-
West Indies : Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Marlon Samuels, Jason Mohammed, Chadwick Walton (WK), Rovman Powell, Carlos Brathwaite (C), Sunil Narine, Jerome Taylor, Samuel Badree, Kesrick Williams.
India : Virat Kohli (C), Shikhar Dhawan, MS Dhoni (WK), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Ajinkya Rahane, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav, Rishabh Pant.