Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Average score at venue (1st inns): 184
Win percentage while batting first: 100%
Pitch conditions:
- The pitch at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata will be providing a stern challenge to bowlers given that batsmen enjoy their time out at this venue. With an average score of 184, both India and West Indies batsmen would look to make merry on a docile track with perfect batting conditions over the next few days.
- Unlike several other cricket venues all around the world, Kolkata’s Eden Garden has witnessed spinners earning more success with a wicket-share percentage of 53.33%, compared to 46.67 for the fast bowlers.
Weather prediction:
It will be a typical winter night on Wednesday in Kolkata with temperature hitting a low of 22°C at the start of the game, which will drop down to 19°C around the time of the finish. The humidity levels will remain around 50%.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD (overall):
Matches played: 17
India won: 10
West Indies won: 6
Tied: -
No result: 1
In India:
Matches played: 7
India won: 5
West Indies won: 2
Tied: -
No result: -
Top 3 players from India: Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul
Top 3 players from West Indies: Rovman Powell, Nicholas Pooran, Jason Holder
Top picks for H2H/WTA contest (top 5 players each):
Top 5 players from India: Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Mohammed Siraj
Top 5 players from West Indies: Rovman Powell, Nicholas Pooran, Jason Holder, Brandon King, Akeal Hosein
Q & A:
Should I pick more bowlers, batsmen or all-rounders?
The venue, Eden Gardens in Kolkata, has historically been a batting-friendly surface with its support to fast bowlers dwindling over the last few years, despite undergoing a drastic change by making a conscious effort to have pitches supporting fast bowlers. Spinners will play a crucial role here in the three-match T20I series starting on Wednesday, and India will certainly miss all-rounder Washington Sundar who performed exceptionally well with both bat and the ball in the ODI series that concluded a few days ago. Adding more to the batting strength will be the right approach for the series opener, along with spinners who can do both — contain batsmen and take wickets.
From which team should I pick more players in my XI? Which team is stronger?
Both India and West Indies were impressive in their previous T20I assignments, recording victories against formidable opponents in New Zealand and England respectively. While India blanked New Zealand 3-0 in a T20I series at home late last year, the West Indies were involved in an intense five-match series against England at home, which they won 3-2 by winning the final match that served as a series decider. The hosts have some really exciting players in the format in the form of Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Siraj, Harshal Patel, and Shardul Thakur to name a few. Other hand, the West Indies too have some really exciting and promising players in Rovman Powell, Odean Smith, Kyle Mayers, Romario Shepherd, Fabian Allen and Brandon King. The series promises to be a thriller given the firepower both these teams have, with every match now being taken as a milestone in terms of preparations for the next T20 World Cup, which is now eight months away.
MORE INFORMATION: It remains to be seen if Kieron Pollard is fit enough to take the field in the first match of the T20I series, having missed the final two ODIs in Ahmedabad. On their end, India have also been depleted to a certain extent given that their vice-captain and opening batsman KL Rahul has been ruled out of action due to a left upper side strain, along with Akshar Patel (recovering from Covid-19) and Washington Sundar (left hamstring muscle strain). The Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav has been named the replacement for Sundar. For their recovery and recuperation process, both Rahul and Patel have been sent to the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.
Players’ form: All eyes will continue to remain on the form of Virat Kohli after a disappointing ODI series, in which he notched up scores of 8, 18 and 0 in three innings. India captain Rohit Sharma will also be keen to bounce back after two failures in the last as many games in Ahmedabad, while the likes of Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer will be keen to build on their form shown in the recent matches. This is the format which West Indies enjoy playing the most, as it provides their batsmen with the freedom to free up their arms and play their natural game of aggressive batting, an approach that may work or fall flat against Indian leg-spin troika of Chahal, Kuldeep and Bishnoi. With Sunder ruled out of the series and Ravichandran Ashwin not being picked, the uncapped Bishnoi can get a look-in in the series. The three-match bilateral affair also brings India's young all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer another opportunity to showcase his skills after a disappointing start in South Africa.
Changes in squad (if any): NO
Likely XIs:
INDIA: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav.
WEST INDIES: Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Romario Shepherd, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Kieron Pollard (c), Rovman Powell, Jason Holder, Fabian Allen, Odean Smith, Akeal Hosein, Sheldon Cottrell.
Fantasy XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Brandon King, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (vc&wk), Odean Smith, Kieron Pollard, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Akeal Hosein, Deepak Chahar.
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India, West Indies look to bolster T20I World Cup preps with bilateral series
Both India and West Indies will look to bolster their preparations for the upcoming T20 World Cup to be held in Australia later this year, with these two teams meeting in a three match T20I series starting on Wednesday at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The remaining two matches of the series will be played on February 18 and 20 respectively.
India have the momentum on their side given that they blanked West Indies 3-0 in the ODI series which concluded a few days ago, but the Caribbean cricketers cannot be taken lightly given that this is the only format in which they are as competitive as any other team in the world, with their natural game play suiting the demands of the format.
West Indies failed to cross the 200-run mark in all three ODIs, producing disappointing performances with the bat but they will be extremely dangerous in the same department, given that the natural style of aggressive batting is something that the Caribbean batsmen are very adept at.
As seen in the ODIs, rather than dropping their anchor and weathering the storm to build innings, the West Indies batsman preferred to whack the ball out of the park more often than not — something that led to their downfall in the 50-over series.
India will have their wicket-keeper batsman Ishan Kishan, who was picked for a record price of ₹15.25 crores by Mumbai ahead of the Indian T20 League 2022, teaming up with captain Rohit Sharma at the top given that Rahul is not available for the series. Virat Kohli is expected to bat at the third slot followed by the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer and the explosive wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant.
Venkatesh Iyer is expected to be back in the playing XI to prove his skills as an all-rounder with India's search now extending to Baroda’s Deepak Hooda in the ODI series. Shardul Thakur remains an integral part of the side but India will be more keen to exploit his skills with the ball more than with the bat.
The absence of off-spinners Sundar and Ashwin means that India can either unleash their famed leg-spin attack pair of Chahal and Kuldeep, or pair the uncapped Ravi Bishnoi with the right-arm senior bowler Chahal, who is also India's leading wicket taker in the format.
For the West Indies, Nicolas Pooran was the top-scorer (164 runs in 5 matches) from both the teams in the five-match series against England but cut a sorry figure in the 50-over matches against India. Pooran, along with Rovman Powell, remain the best batting options for the West Indies, with the likes of Brandon King, Kyle Mayers and captain Pollard — if fit — as the other key batsmen.
Odean Smith made a lot of promise in the ODI series with the bat and \the ball and he will be keenly followed, given that the Caribbean all-rounder is one for the future and has been picked up by Punjab ahead of the 2022 edition of the Indian T20 Cricket League.
