After a high-octane ODI series, India and West Indies will lock horns with each other in a five-match T20I series. The first of the five matches will take place on Friday (July 29) at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad. Both teams will hope to start the series on a winning note and take an early lead.
Despite the hectic schedule, India have done remarkably well to not get hit by the inconsistency bug in England and the West Indies so far. With so many matches being played, the think tank has looked to rotate the players. Among those players returning to the set-up, the onus will be firmly on Ravichandran Ashwin, who will look to make a case for himself ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup.
West Indies, on the other hand, have handed Shimron Hetmyer a return, who will strengthen the middle order. He has been in scintillating form in IPL 2022, playing for the Rajasthan Royals (RR). The hosts will look to get their combinations right ahead of the marquee competition in Australia.
Match Details
1st T20I – India (IND) vs West Indies (WI)
Venue: Brian Lara Stadium, Trinidad
Date & Time: July 29, at 8:00 PM IST and 10:30 AM Local Time
Pitch Report
The stadium is yet to host an international match but enough CPL games have been played at the ground. The average first innings score is 141. So we could be in for a pitch on the slower side.
Predicted Playing XI
India (IND): Rohit Sharma (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav/Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshawar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel.
West Indies (WI): Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Shamarh Brooks, Nicholas Pooran (c & wk), Rovman Powell, Jason Holder, Odean Smith, Romario Shepherd, Akeal Hosein, Hayden Walsh, Obed McCoy.
Match Prediction
While India have welcomed back their T20 superstars, West Indies are a tough nut to crack in this format of the game. They will start as favourites are likely to win the first T20I and take a 1-0 lead. Betway has placed their odds in favour of the home side at 2.80.
IND vs WI – Fantasy Team Suggestions
Fantasy Team 1: Rishabh Pant, Nicholas Pooran (vc), Shreyas Iyer (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Rohit Sharma, Kyle Mayers, Jason Holder, Obed McCoy, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Fantasy Team 2: Rishabh Pant, Nicholas Pooran, Shreyas Iyer, Shimron Hetmyer, Rohit Sharma, Kyle Mayers (vc), Deepak Hooda, Hardik Pandya (c), Obed McCoy, Alzarri Joseph, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
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