Rohit Sharma is the first and only Indian skipper to whitewash the West Indies in an ODI series. India won the three-match series of the fifty overs format by 3-0. After this clean sweep, India will take on the two-time T20I champs, West Indies, in the shortest format series.
India will keep an eye on the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. The team balance and composition will be the ones to be looked at from this series. The men in blue had a disappointing T20 World Cup 2021 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and so they will look to make their combination right for that ICC marquee event.
Rohit Sharma will lead the Indian Team for the first time against West Indies in T20I format, and he will be the skipper for the T20 World Cup 2022 Down Under. India’s batting will be the one to watch out for in this series.
In the ODI series, their batting wasn’t up to the mark. Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant didn’t do the job well enough. The middle-order is still a worry for the home team.
India will bank on their young talents to fire in this series. Ishan Kishan and skipper Rohit Sharma will open the batting in this series, and the hosts also have Ruturaj Gaikwad as the option because there will be no KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan. MI recently brought Ishan back for a purse of 15.25 crores. After getting such a high purse, the MI wicketkeeper-batsman will want to showcase his worth.
Shreyas Iyer will be the key in the middle order. He went to KKR for 12.25 crores in the mega auction held on 12th and 13th February 2022 in Bangalore. Iyer got little chance in the fifty overs series against the West Indies. Now he has a chance of showing his entire worth against the two-time T20I champions.
The eyes will be on Virat Kohli. He had a poor ODI series. Kohli will play his first T20I series after quitting the T20I captaincy after the World T20 2021. He didn’t play the T20I series at home against New Zealand.
India won the ODI series mainly because of bowlers. Bhuvneshwar Kumar will play the T20I series. He had a flop show in the fifty overs series against South Africa, and that’s why Bhuvi wasn’t included in the ODI series. Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chachar are the bowlers who will be looked at in this T20I series.
Shardul Thakur got prize money of 10.75 crores. He will play for Delhi Capitals while Deepak Chachar will play for Chennai Super Kings again. He was brought for 14 crores. Both Shardul and Deepak are capable of winning games for India through their bowling and batting in the lower order. Shardul has two Test fifties, and Deepak has two half-centuries in the ODI format.
Yuzvendra Chahal and Prasidh Krishna also did well in the ODI series. Krishna bagged the most wickets in the fifty-over series. He was exceptional in the last ODI against South Africa as well. The pace bowler entered the 10 crore club in the recent mega auction.
West Indies also have similar issues with batting. The top and middle-order didn’t keep them in the game. Despite getting decent starts, the West Indian batters failed to continue the excellent work, and the lower order was asked to climb the mountain of runs which they eventually failed to do. Jason Holder, Odean Smith, and Fabian Allen batted well in the fifty-over series.
West Indies like playing the T20 format the most. They have the players who could upset India in this series. Kieron Pollard played just one game of the ODI series. In this T20I series, he will want West Indies to be more competitive. Pollard will be the leading player for West Indies as the skipper and batting all-rounder.
Nicholas Pooran, Shai Hope and Brandon King need to come good, especially with the World T20 2022 is around the corner. West Indies will have to include Rovman Powell in the middle order. He is a pure batter who can hold the innings in the middle order with power hitters like Pollard, Holder, Odean Smith, and Allen.
The bowlers did trouble India in the ODI series. But they needed to have Alazarri Joseph in their setup for this T20I series. Joesph bowled well in the ODI series, and he could have been more of a lethal bowler in the shortest format. Sheldon Cottrell will replace Joseph as the lead bowler.
Match Details –
Match – India Vs West Indies 1st T20I
Venue – Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Day/Date – Wednesday, 16th February 2022.
Timings – 7 PM IST and 1.30 PM GMT
Toss Time – 6.30 PM IST and 1 PM GMT.
TV channels – Star Sports India Networks.
Live Streaming – Disney Plus Hotstar, Fan Code, Amazon Mini TV, Vodafone TV, JIO TV, Live Cricket App, Live Ten Sports App.
India Vs West Indies 1st T20I Match – Pitch Report
The pitch at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, will be friendly to all. The batters will have their say, and this wicket will help the bowlers. The dew factor also will be there to show its presence. The Team should bat second after winning the toss.
India Vs West Indies 1st T20I Match – Weather Report
The climate is much suited to play a good game of cricket, and the match will not have any rain interruptions.
India Vs West Indies 1st T20I at Match – India’s probable Playing XI
Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan (WK), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chachar, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Siraj, and Yuzvendra Chahal.
India Vs West Indies 1st T20I Match – West Indies Probable Playing XI
Brandon King, Kayer Mayers, Darren Bravo, Rovman Powell, Kieron Pollard, Roston Chase, Jason Holder, Fabian Allen, Romario Shepard, Dominic Drakes, and Sheldon Cottrell.
India Vs West Indies 1st T20I Match – Injury Updates
KL Rahul, Axar Patel, and Washington Sundar are injured and will miss the first match and the series.
India Vs West Indies 1st T20I Match – Fantasy Batsmen
Rohit Sharma – The MI and India’s skipper Rohit Sharma will be the player to watch out again. He will aim to start the series on a winning note, just as the 1st ODI. Rohit played well in the first game. But his bat was silenced in the last two matches of the ODI series. Rohit should aim to score runs consistently in this T20I series as a player and captain.
Kieron Pollard – The MI all-rounder will take on his franchise skipper in this T20 series. Pollard and Sharma also played against each other in the ODI series before. Pollard will want to be competitive as a batting unit. Their bowling is good. But batting lacked intensity in the fifty overs series. Pollard would aim to set things right in this shortest format series.
India Vs West Indies 1st T20I Match – Fantasy Bowlers
Yuzvendra Chahal – Yuzvi bowled well in the ODI series. He should have played the last ODI as well. Against a power-hitting team like West Indies, Chahal should be accurate with his areas, lines, and lengths. There will be no margin of errors for the spin bowler because he will disappear out of the park. Chahal’s four overs will be crucial in the context of the game.
Sheldon Cottrell – The WI pace bowler has done well for the West Indies in the past. He likes playing against India. He will bowl with the new ball, and the wicket will help the fast bowlers as it is an evenly balanced surface. Cottrell should be the man for West Indies to get early inroads.
India Vs West Indies 1st T20I match – Fantasy Team
Batters – Kieron Pollard, Shreyas Iyer, and Rovman Powell
Bowler – Yuzvendra Chahal, Sheldon Cottrell, and Mohammad Siraj.
All-rounders – Jason Holder and Shardul Thakur
Wicketkeeper – Ishan Kishan.
Vice-Captain – Fabian Allen
Captain – Rohit Sharma.
Predictions –
India will probably get 1-0 ahead in the 1st T20 international match against West Indies.
