The ‘Men in Blue’ registered a thrilling 6-wicket victory over the mighty Australians in the final Group 2 match of the ICC World T20 at the IS Bindra Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali on Sunday.
Also read: India Vs West Indies Semi Final Tickets T20 WC 2016, Here is your chance to get free tickets
After being humiliated by the Kiwis, Team India fought back brilliantly to register three consecutive victories over Pakistan, Bangladesh and Australia in the last three Group stage fixtures to fix a semi-final date with West Indies at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on 31 March.
Although the rest of the Indian batting line-up didn’t fare very well throughout the course of the tournament, Virat Kohli has been absolutely phenomenal for the ‘Men in Blue’. His 37-ball 55 against Pakistan and 51-ball 82 against Australia aided India in securing a couple of key victories in the tournament and propelled them to the business end of the tournament.
The West Indies side, however, has had a mixed bag tournament so far as they secured victories over relatively stronger sides like England, South Africa and Sri Lanka but suffered a defeat at the hands of the Associates, Afghanistan.
The men from Kabul registered the first and probably the only shock of the tournament as they restricted the Caribbean side to 117 runs in their allotted 20 overs winning the Group 1 fixture by 6 runs.
Also read: India vs West Indies, ICC T20 World Cup Semi-final: Match Prediction, Weather Forecast, Pitch Report
As Mumbai is all geared up for the 2nd semi-final match between the host nation and West Indies, it will be interesting to see whether India can secure back-to-back World T20 final spots.
India vs West Indies 2nd Semi Final, T20 2016
Match Date: 31st March 2016, Thursday.
Today’s Match Time: 19:30 IST, 14:00 GMT.
Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
Team News
India: Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has fielded an unchanged Indian from the one that whitewashed Australia in January, helping India win the series 3-0 en route to becoming the first team to whitewash the Aussies in their own backyard.
However, the Indian team will probably need to change their line-up following the match against Australia. In the second innings of the India-Australia thriller, Yuvraj Singh twisted his ankle while trying to pull a Nathan Coulter-Nile delivery towards the on-side. The left-handed batsman seemed to be in real pain for the rest of his innings and was struggling to run between the wickets.
Ajinkya Rahane can be a possible substitute for Yuvraj Singh who seemed to be in a decent form both with the bat as well as the ball. Barring that, the rest of the Indian line-up should remain unchanged for the vital semi-final fixture.
West Indies: The Caribbean side rested a couple of their key players including star opener, Chris Gayle, in the match against Afghanistan. However, that wouldn't quite ease the tension in the West Indies camp.
The island nation is likely to retain the same team which played the Proteas beating them by 3 wickets in an extremely well-fought contest. Chris Gayle along with his fellow partner, Johnson Charles is likely to open at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Having said that, Darren Sammy will still have a few doubts in his mind about their current batting line-up, especially the middle order following their debacle against minnows, Afghanistan.
Teams (Predicted XI)
India
Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (C) (WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah and Ashish Nehra.
West Indies
Johnson Charles, Chris Gayle, Andre Fletcher, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russel, Darren Sammy (C), Carlos Brathwaite, Denesh Ramdin (WK), Sulieman Benn and Samuel Badree.
India vs West Indies, Match Prediction
There are no clear favourites for the tie, but India hold the home advantage. Virat Kohli has been in phenomenal form so far in the tournament and MS Dhoni would be hoping that his openers come to party in the business end of the tournament.
West Indies have been a well-drilled unit in the tournament so far, but their loss against Afghanistan raises some doubts. The Indian contingent will be wary of the Gayle-storm, and will be looking to get the explosive opener out cheaply.
Recent Form
India: W-W-W-L-W
West Indies: L-W-W-W-L
Key Stats
- India have faced West Indies 4 times in T20I matches previously and both the teams are currently level pegging with a couple of wins each in their kitty
- However, the two sides have met thrice in the ICC World T20 and the Caribbean side enjoys a 2-1 Win-Loss record against the MS Dhoni’s side in the previous editions of the coveted tournament.
- Chris Gayle has scored 154 runs in the 3 T20Is that he has played against India at an average of 51.33.
- Dwayne Bravo has picked up 5 wickets in the 3 T20Is that he has played against the ‘Men in Blue’ with the best bowling figure of 38 for 4.
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