India vs West Indies 2016, 1st T20: Resurgent India take on the Caribbean heavyweights

The recently-concluded Test series between India and the West Indies should not be anything to go by when one looks at the competition that lies ahead of the two teams. As international cricket kisses the shores of the United States for the third time in its history, the contrast between the participating teams could not have been starker. No, it is not in terms of the quality of the sides that would be facing each other at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida, but rather the dissemblance from the previous squads that were found rain-watching during the 4th Test at Port of Spain.

Squads and Team News

While MS Dhoni and Jasprit Bumrah have been the only two additions to the Indian squad that played the Tests, Marlon Samuels, Carlos Brathwaite, and Jason Holder are the only members of the Test team to feature in the T20 squad as well. Such stark contrasts signify one thing, and that is the West Indies have now transformed themselves into a T20 specialist side with the who’s who of T20 cricket – such as Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine – turning out for them on a regular basis.

From a historical standpoint, it would be India who’d still be feeling hard done after their defeat at home at the hands of the Caribbean giants in the semi-final of the ICC World T20 earlier this year, wherein two no-balls – from Ravichandran Ashwin and Hardik Pandya – had given Lendl Simmons – who was flown in exclusively for the knockout games – enough lifelines to take the game away from the hosts. Andre Russell’s sixes had done their own job, though.

MS Dhoni returns to the set up after a long break from cricket after the Zimbabwe series

While Pandya couldn’t make it to the T20 side, due to his involvement with the ‘A’ side in Australia, Ashwin, who turned a new leaf for himself in the Tests, would watch his landing very carefully. Another landing that needs to be looked out for is that of the ball, as it has been mentioned that the ground’s outfield is similar to that of the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in terms of its size.

If that indeed is true, Chris Gayle would be licking his palms, lest is taken out of the equation by Jasprit Bumrah, like it was the case the last time the two sides were face to face. The likes of Andre Fletcher, Johnson Charles, Samuel Badree and the IPL superstar Kieron Pollard must not be forgotten either, that round off the power-packed West Indies lineup.

India have their answers too, however, and their answers predominantly lie in one man. Virat Kohli’s insane numbers during the IPL and the unbelievable run during the preceding World T20 this year have set the standards very high for the series, and it is highly doubtful whether any batsman from either side can match it. It remains to be seen as to whether Kohli can continue from where he’d left off the last time he had worn the blue jersey.

Squads: India – MS Dhoni (C & WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Stuart Binny, Jasprit Bumrah, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav.

West Indies – Carlos Brathwaite (C), Samuel Badree, Dwayne Bravo, Johnson Charles (WK), Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Evin Lewis, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons.

Chris Gayle would also return to the West Indies side after his victorious World T20 campaign

Head to Head and Match Prediction

However, the Indian batting lineup looks a bit feeble, particularly due to the absence of a specialist finisher apart from MS Dhoni. The presence of KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane – all of whom bat in the top order for their respective IPL teams – in the same lineup would call for some adjustment. The lack of genuine all-rounders again is an area that should concern the Indian team as opposed to their counterparts who can field as many as nine all-rounders at a time.

The head to head record between the sides lies marginally in the favour of the reigning world champions as in the 5 T20I played between India and the West Indies, the Caribbeans have won 3 matches. The Windies have won three of the four encounters that the teams have had in the World T20s – in 2009, 2010 and 2016 – while India trumped them in the 2014 edition.

While there is hardly anything to pick between the two sides as far as head to head is concerned, the power shifts towards the West Indies if we consider the recent form and the impact that they have had on the game in the recent past. Two World T20s and an array of T20 heavyweights with proven credentials make them the favourites to win the contest.

Predicted XI

India: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (C & WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.

West Indies: Chris Gayle, Johnson Charles (WK), Lendl Simmons, Marlon Samuels, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite (C), Jason Holder, Samuel Badree, Sunil Narine.