West Indies VS India, 1st T20I

India will want to carry their winning momentum into this series. © BCCI

The Picture

After a lopsided one day series and a very queer auction, we head into the shortest format. West Indies will believe that this is the format that suits them the best especially after they defeated a slightly weakened English side 3-2 during their last assignment. The highlight of that West Indian effort was that apart from their power hitting, they rotated the strike effectively, a departure from their old self. Add to that, they also have dynamic players which ensure that they have a plethora of bowling options and a seemingly never-ending batting line-up. So then in every sense, it's only logical that Windies are favourites. But wait that isn't true. For starters they are facing a Indian side at home, a team which has made its shores a fortress. Then they whitewashed New Zealand in a T20 series, right after the worldcup. Apart from that there is the performance of the visitors in the preceding one day series where they were blanked by India 3-0. This basically almost erases all the strengths of the visitors. But then again India aren't at full strength and they have had the issue of a lack of intent in the past as well, add to that the unsurety of their combinations, and suddenly you see a team that throws a lot of questions. With this being another worldcup year, expect both teams to be busy with their preparations for the showpiece event. Both these teams failed to qualify for the next stage in UAE, and this series could be one of a few to help them fine tune their teams and combinations as the road to Australia gets shorter and shorter with each passing day. 

When: 16 February 2022, Wednesday

Time:   7:00 P.M (IST)

Where: Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Team News

West Indies

Keiron Pollard is expected to be fit and should resume his captaincy duties after missing the last two one dayers. If he isn't then one of Chase or Bravo is the most likely to slot in the team. 

Probable XI: Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Nicholas Pooran, Rovman Powell, Kieron Pollard, Jason Holder, Fabian Allen, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Akeal Hosein, Sheldon Cottrell/ Dominic Drakes

India

The hosts are without KL Rahul who had been ruled out, and that means one of Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad will partner Rohit Sharma at the top with the former the favourite for the role. India has a surfeit of allrounders and with the Venkatesh Iyer conundrum still not sorted, one of Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav is likely to miss out. Washington Sundar has been ruled out of the series with Kuldeep Yadav replacing him and he might get a look in if the captain is looking for a second spinner in the lineup. India might hand a debut to Avesh Khan and if so then it will be a toss up between Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur for the same spot.

Probable XI: Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav/Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar/ Shardul Thakur, Avesh Khan/ Kuldeep Yadav, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal

Pitch and Playing Conditions

The pitch at Eden Gardens has traditionally been seamer friendly and this one is expected to be no different with good pace, bounce and carry. Unlike in Ahmedabad where dew hardly arrived, there is going to be lots of dew and both captains will want to win the toss and chase.

Interesting Facts

• Martin Guptill with 3299 runs is the highest run scorer in T20I's. Virat Kohli with 3227 runs and Rohit Sharma with 3197 runs are second and third respectively and both of them have a good chance to eclipse him.