West Indies vs India 2019: India's ideal XI for the T20I series
Now that the 50-over World Cup has concluded, all the international teams would be expected to shift their focus towards preparations for next year's T20 World Cup. Australia are scheduled to host the seventh edition of the T20 World Cup which will see 12 teams competing for the coveted title.
The tournament will be held between 18 October 2020 and 15 November 15 2020.
India are placed in Group 2 along with England, South Africa, Afghanistan and two qualifying teams. Virat Kohli's men will start their preparations for the T20 mega event on 3 August when they face the West Indies team in the first T20I of the three-match series.
The itinerary of the series is as follows:
1st T20I - Aug 3 (Saturday) | Venue - Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, Lauderhill, Florida | Start time - 8:00 PM (IST)
2nd T20I - Aug 4 (Sunday) | Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, Lauderhill, Florida | Start time - 8:00 PM (IST)
3rd T20I - Aug 6 (Tuesday) | Venue - Providence Stadium, Guyana | Start time - 8:00 PM (IST)
But what is the ideal combination for India in this series? The team has been feeling the effects of the lack of big hitters in the middle order during recent times. The selectors might test out a few new players in the upcoming matches in order to add some muscle to the middle order.
Here is the ideal Indian XI for the T20 series:
Openers - Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan
Over the last few years, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have established themselves as dominant white-ball batsmen. The duo has put on numerous match-winning performances in limited-overs cricket already.
Rohit and Dhawan will in all likelihood continue their partnership in ODIs and T20Is for many years to come.
Middle Order -
Virat Kohli, Kl Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Manish Pandey, Krunal Pandya
Virat Kohli will walk in at his favored number 3 position. He has played numerous match-winning knocks for India in T20I cricket until now, and will be looking to lead the side from the front during the series.
KL Rahul will bat at the crucial number 4 batting slot. He has an astonishing career strike of 149.2 in T20I cricket, and his recent IPL form makes him a crucial member of this XI.
Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant and Krunal Pandya will form the rest of the batting lineup. All the three players have a decent record in IPL.
Krunal Pandya might play ahead of Ravindra Jadeja in the T20 series as Krunal was impressive during the last T20I series India played. Pandey and Pant will be looking to impress the team management through some consistent performances during the series.
Lower order -
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Rahul Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed
Bhuvneshwar Kumar will lead the inexperienced bowling attack during the series, with Khaleel Ahmed and Deepak Chahar joining him in the pace department. Deepak Chahar might share the new ball with Bhuvi in the series.
Ahmed was dropped from the Indian team before the World Cup but he regained his spot by performing consistently in the IPL and in domestic cricket.
Rahul Chahar might make his debut for India during this series as he is the only leg spinner in the squad. He was highly successful for Mumbai Indians during their victorious campaign during IPL 2019.
Chahar will in all likelihood form the spin attack along with his Mumbai Indians teammate Krunal Pandya.
Ideal XI: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Manish Pandey, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rahul Chahar, Deepak Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed
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