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Celebrated teams, flamboyant cricketers, shortest form of cricket: India, West Indies set to dazzle at Florida – Preview

No more empty seats. No more one-sided contests. No more boredom. This time, there will be reggae music in the background, as India and West Indies lock horns in a two-T20I series at Lauderhill, Florida.

 

The last time these two teams met was in the semi-final of ICC World T20 2016 © Getty Images
The last time these two teams met was in the semi-final of ICC World T20 2016 © Getty Images

No more empty seats. No more one-sided contests. No more boredom. This time, there will be reggae music in the background. We will see cheerleaders often shake a leg to Dwayne John (DJ) Bravo’s Champion. And of course, Virender Sehwag will be at his (T)wittiest best during the match. All in all, like Ravi Shastri would say, “It promises to be a crackerjack of a contest.” India and West Indies, ranked No. 2 and 3 respectively in ICC T20I Rankings, will battle with each other in two-T20I series at Lauderhill, Florida. Yes, the gentlemen’s game will be played in the United States of America. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: India vs West Indies, 1st T20I, Lauderhill

The last time these two teams met was in the semi-final of ICC World T20 2016. The result took everyone by surprise. Andre Russell sent a full-toss off Virat Kohli soaring over the deep mid-wicket boundary. What was supposed to be India’s match went in the favour of the stylish West Indians.

Then captain Darren Sammy and his champions put their hands up in ecstasy, and roared in front of a dumbfounded Wankhede crowd, the same venue where India had won their second World Cup title after 28 years.

MS Dhoni‘s brigade was criticised for not being able to defend a mammoth 193-run target. Meanwhile, West Indies edged out England in the final encounter and became the only team to win the ICC World T20 twice.

However, West Indies will feature a different captain now, someone Ian Bishop in the commentary box had obliged the spectators to remember the name. And why not! Carlos Brathwaite smashed four consecutive sixes under pressure and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. On the other hand, wondering why Sammy was dropped would be a waste of time (West Indies Board and its logic-defying decisions…). Also read –  Sammy’s unceremonious sacking pushes West Indies cricket in further turmoil

After almost five months, two of the most celebrated teams in the shortest formats, will gather to enjoy the game of cricket, more than focussing on emerging triumphant.

What baffles us is the number of hours Dhoni and few others travelled to play 6 hours of cricket. However, a man, for whom patriotism is second to none, a 64-hour journey is not big a task. All the same, does difference in time zone not make it difficult for one to adjust?

Let alone the weather, one has to change the sleeping pattern and, thus, becomes sleep-deprived and eventually exhausted. In fact, we do not credit the sportsmen (and our countrymen, to be honest) enough for the hard work they put in.

All said and done, we will finally get to see the people’s champion in action. Dhoni, the limited-overs captain, will be raring to have a go amidst a gruelling Test season. More than the numbers and his achievements, his aura is something that is often talked about; which also means we will be entertained by fascinating ‘Dhoni quotes’ in press conferences.

And with Virat Kohli as his deputy, the fans will be at the edge of their seats to experience some splendid cricket.

Besides, the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh have been dropped, of course, citing performance issues. Be it someone who became the first player to hit six sixes or the first Indian to score a century in the format, selectors are supposed to be fair and square if consistency is missing.

Shikhar Dhawan, who was dropped in the semi-final match as well as in the final Test at Port of Spain, is likely to get a nod to open with Rohit Sharma, followed by Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, and KL Rahul, though not necessarily in that order. This means, India have no option but to play all five specialist batsmen, with Dhoni playing a role that of a finisher.

In 2 of the 4 T20Is played at Lauderhill, spinners scalped bulk of the wickets. Hence, whether leg-spinner Amit Mishra will accompany Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the starting XI will be interesting to see. Also read: Statistical preview

Given India need Jasprit Bumrah’s toe-crushing services, either Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Mohammad Shami will form a pace duo with the youngster. India may also go for all three seamers.

Talking about West Indies, they undoubtedly have a star-studded line-up at their disposal.

West Indies bat deep, so much so that every batsman in their team can use the long handle to the savaging effect. Early inroads will not put India on the front-foot. They will have to bowl out of their skins, punch well above their weight; use as many idioms you want, but that still will not fairly articulate West Indies’ batting prowess.

To make matters worse for India, the opposition have Sunil Narine in their arsenal. His numbers deserve a mention here. From 34 T20Is, he has scalped 40 wickets at 17.75. Be that as it may, his economy reads 5.69 in a format tailor-made for batsmen.

India have only two all-rounders: Jadeja and Stuart Binny. West Indies, on the other hand, have Russell, Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Jason Holder, Brathwaite, and then they have someone who call roll his arm in time of need: Gayle.

On the whole, it’s a team of flamboyant, destructive all-rounders.

West Indies go into the series as favourites (not firm favourites though). As India have never played at Lauderhill, they will have to assess the conditions in details. Against such swashbuckling team, there will be no margin for error whatsoever. Also read – Brathwaite’s appointment as T20I skipper: Baseless or contemplating decision by WICB?

But India have Dhoni, a shrewd leader and coach Anil Kumble, an astute thinker of the game.

Plan A and B may well have been already dished out. One step at a time, and India will push West Indies to the doorstep of defeat. Starting from a bowling strategy to Gayle and keeping Narine’s wily spinners at bay, the captain-coach duo will have to ensure they already have things in place.

And for India to cross the finish line, every plan needs to be applied with perfection.

In addition, West Indies will leave no stone unturned to counterattack India. New captain Brathwaite will have few plans up his sleeves as well. However, considering his team became the champions under Sammy’s leadership, the swords will be out if he fails to keep the team’s morale high the way Sammy did.

Eventually, the result depends on how India’s bowling unit performs, for West Indies cover all the bases and have the upper hand.

Squad:

India: MS Dhoni (c & wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Stuart Binny, Jasprit Bumrah, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami, Ajinkya Rahane, Lokesh Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav

West Indies: Carlos Brathwaite (c), Samuel Badree, Dwayne Bravo, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Evin Lewis, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons

Time: 19:30 IST | 10:00 local | 14:00 GMT

(Kaustubh S. Mayekar, a reporter at CricketCountry, played cricket at U-16 level. Like his idol Rahul Dravid, he often shadow-practises cricket shots. His Twitter handle is @kaumedy_)

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