An upbeat Indian team will hope to carry their winning momentum from the ODI series over to the shortest format as the T20I leg of their tour of the West Indies commences at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago on Friday.
After winning the battle of nerves in consecutive high-scoring thrillers, the Shikhar Dhawan-led Indian team completed a 3-0 sweep of the ODI series with a clinical 119-run victory in a rain-affected fixture on Wednesday.
Dhawan, however, will be stepping aside from the captaincy role in the T20Is, handing it back to all-format captain Rohit Sharma, who returns to action along with several other first-choice players for the 20-over leg.
Additionally, Rishabh Pant returns to action for the first time since his heroic, match-winning ton in Manchester that secured an ODI series victory for the Men in Blue and concluded their England tour on a happy note. With Dhawan's tour of the West Indies having come to an end, Pant is expected to return to the top of the order as Rohit's opening partner, leaving a spot in the middle order for fellow gloveman and proven finisher Dinesh Karthik, who will have to make each and every opportunity count if he is to book his ticket for Australia later this year.
The middle-order will also be bolstered by all-rounder Hardik Pandya's return to action for the first time since the England tour, as well as by the in-form Axar Patel, who aced the role of a finisher in the second ODI and is expected to slot into the T20I XI in place of Ravindra Jadeja, whose fitness is still under scanner.
As for the bowling department, fans and experts are still wondering about Arshdeep Singh's continued exclusion from the XI despite being one of the standout performers in this year's IPL and impressing in his only international appearance so far — in the first T20I against England. With Bhuvneshwar leading the attack, the team management will have to choose between Arshdeep and Avesh Khan, who was a little wayward in the one-dayers.
Sound 🔛 🔊#TeamIndia captain @ImRo45 warming up in the nets ahead of the 1st #WIvIND T20I. 👌 👌 pic.twitter.com/0V5A70l2EY
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 29, 2022
Rohit, meanwhile, encouraged his players to go out and play freely and not resort to the conservative approach that had hampered their T20 game in the past, especially in last year's World Cup.
"Lately, we haven't made any changes, we are doing the same things but the players have been given some freedom to go out and play their own game. Play openly, no need to take any undue pressure, if you play freely, performances will show," Rohit said on the eve of the T20I series opener.
The Nicholas Pooran-led Windies certainly were competitive in the one-dayers, in the first two games at least, and will hope to mend their ODI shortcomings and come out on top in the format that they so love and have excelled in more often than not in the recent past. What will boost their confidence further is the return of the in-form batter Shimron Hetmyer, who had a decent run in IPL 2022 but hasn't been in action since.
The Brian Lara Cricket Stadium in Tarouba, meanwhile, is gearing up for its maiden international game after having hosted 31 Caribbean Premier League matches. The grand occasion could, however, get spoiled by rain, the chances of which look strong on Friday if the weather forecast is to be believed.
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), Rishabh Pant(w), Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshal Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shreyas Iyer, Kuldeep Yadav, Avesh Khan, Ishan Kishan
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