The West Indies have named a strong squad plump with specialists as India’s 2-month long tour wraps up with 5 T20Is beginning Thursday, 3rd August. After a closely fought 2-match Test and 3-match ODI series which the tourists won 1-0 and 2-1 respectively, the hosts look set to topple the applecart as India’s experimentation in the just concluded ODI series almost backfired.
To be played in the Caribbean and United States, the series begins at the same venue as the 3rd ODI – the Brian Lara Stadium at Tarouba in Trinidad on August 3rd before moving to Guyana for the next two matches on August 6th and 8th. Florida, USA hosts the final 2 games on August 12th and 13th to conclude the tour. All games begin at 8 PM IST.
West Indies
Veteran batsman Shai Hope and pacer Oshane Thomas have been recalled to the 15-man squad captained by Rovman Powell and includes Jason Holder, Roston Chase, Johnson Charles, Obed McCoy, and Nicholas Pooran.
Pooran missed the ODI series due to Major League Cricket (MLC) 2023 where he led MI New York to an inaugural trophy win.
Hope, the ODI skipper of the Windies last played T20I cricket for the hosts way back in February 2022. Thomas last featured in T20s in December 2021.
With the West Indies out of the ODI World Cup to be held in India later this year, this series takes on even more importance as it starts their preparation for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, which will be co-hosted by Cricket West Indies and USA Cricket.
Squad
Rovman Powell (c), Kyle Mayers (vc), Johnson Charles (wk), Roston Chase, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Shai Hope (wk), Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Obed McCoy, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Oshane Thomas
India
When India and West Indies played a bilateral T20I series last year, India won 4-1. But with the ODI World Cup around the corner and youngsters like Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill doing well in the just concluded ODIs, senior players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli don’t get a look-in which might well be to manage their workload.
Hardik Pandya returns as captain with Suryakumar Yadav as his deputy in a very young looking side that includes Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, and pacer Mukesh Kumar who ran through the Windies top-order in the 3rd ODI. Apart from Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Siraj are not part of the T20I squad as well.
Squad
Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Surya Kumar Yadav (vc), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya (c), Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar
Head-to-Head
Total – 25 | West Indies – 7 | India – 17 | No Result – 1
Schedule
1st T20I – Thursday, August 3rd at Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba, Trinidad
2nd T20I – Sunday, August 6th at Providence Stadium, Guyana
3rd T20I – Tuesday, August 8th, Providence Stadium, Guyana
4th T20I – Saturday, August 12th at Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, Lauderhill, Florida
5th T20I – Sunday, August 13th at Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, Lauderhill, Florida
*All games @ 02.30pm GMT | 10:30am LOCAL | 8:00pm IST
