For the first time, international cricket will hit a home run as the two T20 superpowers India and West Indies lock horns on American soil. It will be a historic series for both the teams and will provide the American crowd to witness some best T20 players in action. Though the Windies were overwhelmed by the Indians in the recently concluded Test series, the Indian limited overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be wary of the fact that West Indies are world beaters when it comes to the game’s shortest format.
The return of Chris Gayle and Sunil Narine will surely bolster the team’s chances in the upcoming matches. India, on the other hand, will be travelling with the more or less same team that competed in the Test series. The only additions will be their captain MS Dhoni and the new pace sensation Jasprit Bumrah with a few from the Test team already in India to compete in the Duleep Trophy.
From the Windies team, guys like Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo and Andre Russell will surely lift the team’s morale. The team has some serious batsmen who on their day can destroy any bowling attack. It will a tough ask for the Men in Blue to beat the Windies in the most anticipated series of the year.
Here are five reasons why West Indies would be very difficult to beat:
#1 The Gayle factor
The “Six Machine” needs no introduction. The man from Jamaica has been a champion batsmen as far as T20 is concerned and is the most feared batsmen in this version. Known to clear big boundaries with utmost comfort, Gayle would look to stamp his authority on the Indian bowlers. The first man to score an international T20 hundred, Gayle has been an asset for any T20 team he played.
Gayle holds the record for most centuries in T20 cricket with 18. Distant second in Brendon McCullum with 11. A man with enormous power, Gayle has been instrumental in West Indies winning two T20 World cups twice in a short time. He has been a terrific performer for the Royal Challengers Bangalore scoring 5 centuries for the IPL franchise.
Indian bowlers would look to dismiss him early as 10 overs is enough for him to take the game away from the opposition.
#2 Difficulty in facing Sunil Narine
One of the best T20 bowlers, Sunil Narine will be a tough customer to handle in the upcoming series. The change of action in Narine’s bowling has hampered his natural skills to a certain extent but he is still one of the best around and even with his modified action he can keep the batsmen at bay for a long period of time. He can literally turn the ball both ways with an identical action and is a very difficult customer to score off.
Narine has been a terrific bowler for West Indies and has played a pivotal role in helping the Windies win the T20 World Cup in 2012. In the IPL, Narine has been a revelation for the Kolkata Knight Riders and have helped them win the title twice in 2012 and 2014. He has a total of 85 wickets in 66 matches he played in the IPL with an impressive average of 19.04 and an even better economy rate of 6.17.
The Men in Blue will look to play out his 4 stipulated overs and attack the rest. It will be a challenge for the batsmen to face the magician in the land of baseball.
#3 Andre Russel’s all round abilities
An asset to any T20 team, Andre Russell on his day has the ability to destroy any serious bowling attacks. Besides that he is more than a useful bowler, even opening the bowling on quite a few occasions for his national team and the franchises he plays for. He is a skiddy customer and can really bowl his heart out. He is a useful bowling option for any captain.
Russell has been an inconsistent performer with the bat playing for his national team, occasionally chipping in with an innings of substance. Russell has been a part of the Kolkata Knight Riders team in the IPL and has played some whirlwind knocks for his franchise. In the last edition, his brilliant half century was vital in Kolkata Knight Riders winning a group stage match against Kings XI Punjab from a hapless situation. He has also been a partnership breaker whenever Gambhir needed wickets and has provided the team with the much-needed balance.
The Indian bowlers will look to stop the Russell onslaught in the upcoming T20 series in the US.
#4 Samuel Badree’s experience
An underrated bowler, Samuel Badree has been a consistent performer for West Indies in the shortest format. The No.1 T20 bowler in the ICC Rankings for quite a while now, Badree will look to use his variations to unsettle the star-studded Indian batting line-up in America. Badree has a total of 40 wickets in his 28 international T20 matches at an astonishing average of 14.70 per wicket. He also has a terrific economy rate conceding runs well below 6 runs an over.
A bowler made for the shorter format, Badree has the ability to vary his pace considerably and has a terrific googly up his sleeve. He has troubled batsmen from all over the world on a consistent basis in the shortest format and has picked up 144 wickets in as many matches in the T20 format across all competitions.
#5 New powerhouse Carlos Braithwaite
The Men in Blue would have seen what this man did to England in the T20 World Cup final at the Eden Garden’s and will try to come prepared. Selected in the team primarily as a bowler, Braithwaite created history in the 2016 World Cup final smashing four consecutive sixes of Ben Stokes in the final over to help West Indies win the World Cup for the 2nd time in 3 editions. It was an immense contribution from the young man when the chips were down.
Given the captaincy very recently after Darren Sammy was sacked unceremoniously, Braithwaite will look to grow in stature as an all-round player and will hope captaincy doesn’t affect his performance in any way. Though he is relatively inexperienced in the team, captaining a star-studded West Indies team will help him to evolve as a player and learn from the more experienced guys.
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