India vs West Indies: 3 key areas India need to address in T20I series
India beat West Indies 3-0 in a one-sided ODI series and the focus now shifts to the T20I series. West Indies were rather underwhelming in the ODI series, but they are coming into this series after a thrilling 3-2 T20I series win at home over England.
As per head coach Phil Simmons, the side are "a little bit further ahead with our batting assessments in T20s than in ODIs". This could be the reason why the hosts should not take things for granted in the T20I series.
After a rather disappointing T20 World Cup, India got back some form against New Zealand in the 3-match T20I series. However, a lot of focus will still be on the way they churn out their team combination, and style of play. Under new captain Rohit Sharma, there will be a number of aspects that will be closely monitored in the T20I series against West Indies.
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In this article, we take a look at 3 areas of focus for India in the T20I series against West Indies:
1.) Lower-order batting
A lot will depend on the role given to Venkatesh Iyer. Rohit Sharma can walk out with Ruturaj Gaikwad to open the innings and Iyer can slide in at number six. However, this will mean that India can only use one of Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer in the middle-order.
Now the hosts also have Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar and Harshal Patel - all these players can add heft to the lower-order batting. Thakur and Chahar have given enough evidence of their batting in international cricket.
Harshal is no slouch with the bat either - in 2019-20, he was Haryana's highest run-scorer in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as an opener. He scored 374 runs in 12 innings at a strike rate of 165.48.
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2.) What will be the opening combination?
Ahead the T20I series, vice-captain KL Rahul was ruled out with a left hamstring strain. This essentially means that Rohit Sharma, the new captain, will have a new opening partner. By all accounts, it could well be Ishan Kishan, but Ruturaj Gaikwad could also be the other choice.
Ishan Kishan could slip down to number three and India could give Gaikwad this entire series to showcase his mettle after his exploits for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL. With Ishan Kishan in the middle order, Rishabh Pant can be rested as India have a packed calendar.
3.) India's bowling attack
Both Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami have been rested and this makes Mohammed Siraj the automatic leader of the pace attack. As far as the spinners are concerned, Yuzvendra Chahal found form in the ODI series, but Ravi Bishnoi could get a chance with his quick leg breaks.
Avesh Khan had a tremendous IPL last season and he could make his international debut and it will be interesting to see how he performs. India are still looking at a left-armer to take the new ball, but the available resources have the mettle to get the job done.