Windies vs India, 2nd T20I, Preview – Men in Blue look to finish the US-leg on a high

Not often do the Indian cricketers play two games in two days, but the packed schedule in Florida has left them with no alternative. Skipper Virat Kohli was pretty satisfied with how the bowlers reciprocated to the adverse batting conditions on Saturday but will be expecting a little more from the batting department, just as he mentioned in the post-match presentation.

The Windies will have a lot of things to ponder upon, most importantly the shot selection from some of their batsmen, which was way too reckless. Their batting performance was utterly disappointing and if not for Kieron Pollard’s exploits towards the end, they would’ve winded up under the 70-mark.

Carlos Brathwaite will be satisfied with their bowling performance and if the pitch remains similar on the second day, he would love to see his side score anything over 140 to stay alive in the series. Kohli might not experiment with the XI and the same is expected with the Windies.

Playing Combinations

Windies

Jason Mohammad, who came in to replace Andre Russell in the squad, might find a place in the XI as an opener. This could be the only change made by the hosts. The dashing southpaws Nicholas Pooran, Evin Lewis and Shimron Hetmyer, all of them were a bit too unlucky on Saturday and skipper Carlos Brathwaite will be expecting fireworks from at least one of them. Sunil Narine and Keemo Paul were brilliant with the ball and will continue to assist Brathwaite’s go-to man, Sheldon Cottrell.

Probable XI

John Campbell/Jason Mohammad, Evin Lewis, Nicholas Pooran (WK), Shimron Hetmyer, Kieron Pollard, Rovman Powell, Carlos Brathwaite (C), Sunil Narine, Keemo Paul, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas

India

Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma couldn’t do much in the first game, but the duo is well capable of exploiting the opportunities on their day. Kohli would be expecting some more resistance from the likes of Manish Pandey and Rishabh Pant in the middle order. All-rounders Jadeja, Krunal Pandya and Washington Sundar add great value to the unit. Bhuvneshwar Kumar will continue to guide the young pacers, Khaleel Ahmed and Navdeep Saini.

Probable XI

Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (C), Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (WK), Krunal Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, K Khaleel Ahmed

Focus will be on

Sunil Narine (Windies)

The Wizard of the Windies cricket, Sunil Narine made a fantastic comeback to the International arena with a very strong performance. He picked up two wickets and made batting very difficult with his trickery. They might use a different track for the second day and if at all it turns out to be a good batting track, Brathwaite would be desperate for Narine to save the day with some crucial wickets.

Navdeep Saini (India)

The youngster from Delhi hits the high 140KMPH mark very easily and it is always an exciting prospect for an Indian fast bowler. He has been in terrific form in the last couple of months and it showed up in the first game. He has a long road ahead and needs to produce good performances on a consistent basis to make a case for himself in the other formats as well.

Head to head:

Matches played – 12 | Windies won – 5 | India won – 6 | No Result – 1

Stat Attack:

6 – Navdeep Saini became the 6th Indian cricketer to bag a player of the match award on T20I debut.

Broadcast Details

TV – Sony Ten 1, Sony Ten 1 HD, Sony Ten 3, Sony Ten 3 HD

Online– Sony LIV

Match Timings – 20:00 IST and 10:30 local