KOLKATA: The preparation for T20 World Cup 2022 will truly start for India when the Rohit Sharma-led side takes the field against West Indies here at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
India and West Indies will lock horns in three T20Is beginning Wednesday and the focus will be on the brand of cricket India play, having witnessed disappointment in T20 World Cup 2021.
After that, the Men in Blue won the T20I series against New Zealand, but nothing changed in terms of approach so it would be interesting to see whether the Men in Blue try out something different.
Last week, KL Rahul and Axar Patel were ruled out of the T20I series, and the All-India Senior Selection Committee named Ruturaj Gaikwad and Deepak Hooda as replacements. Virat Kohli recorded scores of 8,18 and 0 in the ODI series and it would be interesting to see how the batter performs in the shortest format.
It is safe to say that Ishan Kishan who recently was acquired by Mumbai Indians for Rs 15.25 crore would open the batting alongside Rohit in the T20I series in the absence of KL Rahul. It would be needed to see how the likes of Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer perform in the middle-order.
The management would also like to see what Deepak Chahar, Avesh Khan, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar do in this series and this will help them in making a call on who to persist with for the T20 World Cup set to be played in Australia later this year. Deepak Hooda and Venkatesh Iyer can add firepower to the lower-order and it needs to be seen who the management goes with in the first T20I.
Talking about West Indies, the side displayed horrendous batting in the ODI series, but the side recently defeated England 3-2 in the shortest format and they would look to take the form into the series against India. It needs to be seen whether Kieron Pollard would be available having missed the last two ODIs due to a niggle.
Squads:
India: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Mohd. Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Deepak Hooda.
West Indies: Kieron Pollard (c), Nicholas Pooran, Fabien Allen, Darren Bravo, Roseton Chase, Sheldon Cottrell, Dominic Drakes, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Rovman Powell, Romario Shephard, Odean Smith, Hayden Walsh Jr.
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