India vs West Indies 2019: India's probable playing XI in the T20I series

Putting behind the disappointment of the World Cup Semifinal loss, the Indian Cricket team are all geared up for the month-long West Indies tour which will begin on August 3. The Indian team will play three T20 Internationals, three ODIs and two Test matches against the West Indies. The tour will begin with the T20s followed by the ODIs and the Test matches.

The schedule for the T20 International matches are as follows.

1st T20I: 3rd August in Florida

2nd T20I: 4th August in Florida

3rd T20I: 6th August in Guyana

India have selected a young T20I squad for this series and rested some of their key players like Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav and Hardik Pandya. The Indian team of this series is as follows.

Overall, the team looks quite good on paper, especially the batting line-up. However, the bowling line-up lacks international experience. They have to rise up to the occasion and bowl to their potential in this series. Otherwise they might be taken to the cleaners by the dangerous West Indian batting line-up.

West Indies are one of the best teams in the world in T20Is in spite of some indifferent performances in recent times. They have more match-winners in their team than any other team in the world . So in order to win the series, India will have to play their best cricket.

In this article we look at what could be India's best possible playing XI in this T20I series.

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Openers: Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma.

The star opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan will open the innings for the team. Dhawan will be back in action after recovering from the hand injury which he suffered during the World Cup. They are one of greatest opening pairs in the history of T20 Internationals, and India's success in this series will depend on how these two players perform at the top of the order.

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Middle-order: Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer

The two pillars of the Indian middle-order in T20Is.

The captain of the side, Virat Kohli, will definitely bat at his favorite number-three position. After his World Cup disappointment, Kohli will be eager to silence his critics, both with his bat and with his leadership skills. He will look to play the anchor role for the Indian batting line-up in this series.

KL Rahul will most probably play at the number-four position. Rahul has a very good record in the shortest format of the game and hence he is an automatic selection in the playing XI. At the number-five position, Shreyas Iyer is most likely to get the nod ahead of Manish Pandey because of his ability to score at a quick pace.

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Wicket-keeper: Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant.

Rishabh Pant will be India's obvious choice for the wicket-keeper's slot in the playing XI.He will most probably bat at the number-six slot.

Pant's devastating batting style makes him a match-winner in the shortest format of the game. It is almost impossible to keep him quiet, and if he is at the crease till the end of the innings, then the opposition has very little chance of winning the match.

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All-rounders: Ravindra Jadeja and Krunal Pandya

Krunal Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja.

At numbers seven and eight, all-rounders Krunal Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja will be the best options. Although both of them are very similar in nature, their experience and quality put them ahead of the other all-rounder Washington Sundar. On their day, both Jadeja and Krunal can be match winners with both the bat and the ball.

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Bowlers: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed and Navdeep Saini

Khaleel Ahmed.

In the absence of star pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami, the Indian pace bowling attack will be led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. With him, Bhuvi will have the young and talented left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed to do pace-bowling duty.

For the 3rd bowler's spot, there will tough competition between pacers Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar and leg spinner Rahul Chahar. However Navdeep has a slight edge over the other two because of his ability to pick up wickets with his raw pace.

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