West Indies v India, 1st T20I Preview: India takes on West Indies in the historic game as cricket eyes a new market

Two of T20 cricket’s power horses – India and West Indies – are set to enthrall the cricket starved US audience when they take on each other at the Central Broward Regional Park and Stadium in Lauderhill, Florida. It is only on very few occasions when a bilateral T20I series is looked forward with such enthusiasm especially if it’s been hosted on foreign shores which have a very less cricketing presence on the map.

There was a buzz of excitement ever since BCCI announced that India will play a two-match series in Florida against West Indies in early August. If the games attract a full-house and the players put out some sizzling performances then this series will be path breaking in terms of expanding Cricket’s popularity in the USA and inspire the people of the country to play and excel in the sport.

Talking about the venue, USA has only one ICC-certified cricket ground. The venue was opened in November 2007 has a capacity of holding 20,000 persons. It is a very young venue which has hosted only 4 games till date. Out of these four, the team batting first has won thrice while the chasing team has won only once. While in the recently concluded CPL six games were hosted here. The ground had an even record with the team that chased having won three times while defending teams have won the same number of matches.

West Indies:

After having lost the Test series pretty badly, the West Indies, bolstered by the return of their star players, will be itching to have a go at India. As we all know already, the format is like tailor-made for them. The return of their superstars is the greatest advantage they hold over India.

The entire team bears a revitalized look, And, unlike the Test team, this team looks strong favorites to beat India. Barring Darren Sammy, their ex-captain, the team is the same which lifted the T20 World Cup earlier this year. At the first glance, one can say that why the Caribean are the reigning champions of this format.

The batting order is explosive while the bowling department has bowlers with the capability of winning the matches single handedly. Chris Gayle and Lendl Simmons are expected to open whereas Johnston Charles and Marlon Samuels make or the rest of the top order. These four men will be followed by the attacking all-rounders namely Andre Russell, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo and Carlos Brathwaite. Jason Holder happens to be the only frontline seamer. Sunil Narine and Samuel Badree will share the bowling duties with the pacebowlingg all-rounders.

Probable XI:

Chris Gayle, Lendl Simmons, Johnston Charles, Marlon Samuels, Andre Russell, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Carlos Brathwaite, Jason Holder, Sunil Narine, Samuel Badree

Watch Live Streaming  Available only in US, CAN and the Caribbean Islands. – http://www.yupptv.com/cricket/india-vs-west-indies-t20-live.html

India:

Virat Kohli will pass the leadership baton to the experienced hands of MS Dhoni who will be playing for the first time in the last three months. The team hasn’t seen any drastic change in the line-up apart from the inclusion of Jasprit Bumrah and Stuart Binny.

West Indies might look favorites considering their team combination and reputation in the format but the Indians seems to be equally potent. Talking about playing XI, it is a bit tough to predict the combination with which MS Dhoni might go for. It seems that India has bargained the batting depth to add more teeth to the bowling attack. Shikhar Dhawan may open with Lokesh Rahul if India opts for only five batsmen in the side. But, if not then maybe both of them could play at the cost of one specialist bowler.

The rest of the batting order is settled with in-form names like Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni forming the backbone of the side. Speaking of the bowling attack, Mohammad Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah make the perfect fast bowling trio. But it will be interesting to see if Dhoni opts for a three spinner attack or not. If he does then Stuart Binny and Umesh Yadav will be the two left out of the team whereas Ravindra Jadeja and Amit Mishra will join Ravichandran Ashwin to complete the playing XI.

Probable XI:

Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul/Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja/Stuart Binny, Amit Mishra, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami

Match timing: 19:30 IST

Stats:

• 30 – MS Dhoni’s highest score this year in T20Is, his lowest in a calendar year in which he has played more than seven T20I matches. He scored 30 runs against New Zealand at Nagpur this year in the World T20.
• 2 – Chris Gayle needs to hit two more sixes in upcoming T20I series against Indian to become the first player who has hit 100 sixes in T20Is. He has hit 98 sixes from 50 T20Is so far.
• 4 – Rohit Sharma needs to hit four more sixes in T20Is to become the second Indian player to hit 50 sixes in T20Is. He has hit 46 sixes from 60 T20Is so far.
• 4 – Jasprit Bumrah needs to take four more wickets in the upcoming T20I series against West Indies to become the leading wicket-taker in T20Is in a calendar year. He has taken 24 wickets from 19 T20I matches so far this year. Only Dirk Nannes (27 in 2010) and Saeed Ajmal (25 in 2012) are ahead of him in that list.
• 3 – MS Dhoni needs to effect three stumpings to become the wicket-keeper with second most stumpings in T20Is. Dhoni has 21 stumpings so far from 71 T20I matches.