The T20I series between India and West Indies will kick off on July 29. The opening game of the series will be played at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad. St Kitts will host the next two matches on August 1 and 2.
Following that, the action will move to USA, which will host the last two matches on August 6 and 7. All the matches will start at 10.00 Am local time.
The two teams last played a T20I and ODI series earlier in February this year. India managed to defeat West Indies in all the three ODIs and T20Is, winning both the series 3-0.
Team India seems to be on a golden run against the West Indies as they completed a trio of whitewash in their last three limited overs series. The recent ODI series vs West Indies saw Team India beat West Indies 3-0.
West Indies have been playing consistent T20I cricket. They recently won their T20I series against Bangladesh 2-0.
However, against India, they have a far tougher challenge as the seasoned players will be back in the side.
Nicholas Pooran will lead the Windies. Jason Holder played the third ODI after recovering from covid and the Windies will require his services in the T20I series as well. Also, T20 specialist batter Shimron Hetmyer is available for selection.
Pooran suggested that West Indies have fared better in the shorter version of the game.
“We just won a T20 series [against Bangladesh], so hope we continue to entertain the crowd and perform well,” he said.
For India, Skipper Rohit Sharma is back along with the likes of Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik and Rishabah Pant.
The Brian Lara Stadium has never hosted an international T20 match before, but it has played host to some Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 fixtures
The last CPL T20 match played at this venue was the final of the 2020 edition. The Trinbago Knight Riders defeated the St. Lucia Zouks by eight wickets in that match. A 27-ball 39 from Andre Fletcher helped the Zouks score 154 runs in the first innings.
Chasing 155 to win the title, the Knight Riders were home in the 19th over itself thanks to a half-century from Lendl Simmons. A total of 16 sixes were hit in that game. 12 wickets fell across the two innings, with spinners bagging four of them.
West Indies full squad for 5 T20Is: Nicholas Pooran (Captain), Rovman Powell (Vice Captain), Shamarh Brooks, Dominic Drakes, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Obed McCoy, Keemo Paul, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Devon Thomas and Hayden Walsh Jr.
West Indies Probable Playing XI for 1st T20: 1 Brandon King, 3 Kyle Mayers, 3 Nicholas Pooran (c&wk), 4 Shimron Hetmyer , 5 Rovman Powell , 6 Jason Holder, 7 Akeal Hosein, 8 Romario Shepherd, 9 Odean Smith/Hayden Walsh, 10 Obed McCoy, 11 Alzarri Joseph.
India will be bolstered by the comebacks of Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav and R Ashwin were named in the T20I leg of the series.
India’s full squad for 5 T20Is: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.
India’s Probable Playing XI for 1st T20: 1 Rohit Sharma (C), 2 Rishabh Pant (WK), 3 Shreyas Iyer, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Dinesh Karthik / Deepak Hooda, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Harshal Patel, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Arshdeep Singh