A full-strength Indian team in all its might will be looking to overwhelm the West Indies in its bid to record a second successive clean sweep in the five-match T20I series starting Friday. Follow live scores of WI vs IND, 1st T20I HERE, and ball-by-ball commentary HERE.
With less than three months left for the T20 World Cup, skipper Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid will get around 16 games (5 vs WI, 5 in Asia Cup -- if India qualify for the final, 3 vs Australia, 3 vs South Africa) to firm up their core team that will then play unchanged going into the mega event. The mere thought of a first eleven comprising Rohit, Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik as the five specialists batters in the top six can have an intimidating as well as a debilitating effect on the opposition.
And that too at a time when a player of Virat Kohli's stature has been failing miserably in the shortest format and doubts are being cast about his place in the playing XI. Thus the five-match series against West Indies, technically being played in three different countries (Trinidad & Tobago, St Kitts & Nevis and the USA) will also give us a clear picture whether Kohli's days of invincibility are over or not.
Boasting a few T20 specialists and hard-hitters, the hosts are likely to go with the same squad featuring such as Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, and Rovman Powell that beat Bangladesh 2-0 in the three-match series back home earlier this month. The likes of Myers and skipper Pooran are also in good form with the bat, and that could give West Indies the right amount of confidence to give India a tough fight.
West Indies vs India, 1st T20I match details
Match: India's Tour Of West Indies 2022, 1st T20I;
Date: July 29 (Friday), 2022;
Time: 8:00 PM IST/10:30 AM local;
Venue: Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba, Trinidad.
How to watch West Indies vs India, 1st T20I?
Fans in India can watch the West Indies vs India, 1st T20I match live on Doordarshan (DD Sports). Live streaming of the 1st WI vs IND T20I cricket match will be available on FanCode.
West Indies vs India, T20I head-to-head record
The West Indies and India have played 20 T20I so far. The head-to-head record is 13-6 in favour of India, with one no result (on August 28, 2016). India have won the last four matches. The Windies last beat India on December 8, 2019.
India have five of the seven T20I series against the West Indies, including the last four.
Squads
West Indies: Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran(w/c), Rovman Powell, Odean Smith, Jason Holder, Romario Shepherd, Alzarri Joseph, Obed McCoy, Hayden Walsh, Akeal Hosein, Keemo Paul, Shamarh Brooks, Dominic Drakes, Devon Thomas
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh.
(With agency inputs)
