Match Details
- Venue: Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad
- Date: 6th December 2019
- Time: 7:00 PM IST
- League: West Indies tour of India
India Preview
India’s top pacers and captain Virat Kohli are back in the squad for the T20I series against West Indies. In the recently concluded T20I series against Bangladesh, Rohit Sharma led the home team to a 2-1 series victory. While Shikhar Dhawan has been consistent with the bat, India will be going into the series without him. Sanju Samson has replaced Shikhar Dhawan in the squad while KL Rahul would be keen on opening the innings with Rohit Sharma.
India’s top-order looks strong with Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul in top 3. However, the inconsistency in the middle-order would be a concern. India lost a match in each of the last two home series. In the 1st T20 against Bangladesh, after the early losses, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and S Iyer failed to anchor the innings and build a big total. In addition, South Africa defeated India in the 3rd T20I where the middle-order collapsed. However, in the last T20I against Bangladesh, both Iyer, and Rahul scored fifties after Dhawan and Sharma departed early in the innings.
West Indies Preview
Windies lost the previous T20I series 0-3 on India’s tour of West Indies. After the tour ended, the West Indies players participated in the CPL 2019. Lendl Simmons and Brandon King delivered some impressive performances in the league. As a result, these two are likely to have more responsibility and expectations at the top.
Skipper Kieron Pollard was in a captain’s role in the CPL as well. He delivered great performances in the middle-order in a finisher’s role. Hayden Walsh and Khary Pierre were consistent with the ball for their respective CPL teams. Walsh played a match-winning role on multiple occasions while Pierre maintained good economy during the season. Windies have trusted in Nicholas Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer for quite some time. Both of them failed to make any significant contribution during India’s tour of West Indies.
Fantasy Team Tips
- Virat Kohli will be eager to make his arrival in the T20I set-up after a break with a significant contribution. Rohit Sharma’s big scores in the T20 internationals are not as consistent as Kohli’s or Dhawan’s.
- Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul need to justify their roles in batting order. Kohli and Shreyas Iyer in the middle have similar roles in the middle. Hence, these two would be a constant in the fantasy team for T20I series.
- Keemo Paul would be a better choice for bowling all-rounder over Jason Holder. His bowling approach is more apt for T20 than Holder’s.
- While Shimron Hetmyer and Nicholas Pooran struggled to score against India the last time, Kieron Pollard was a reliable number 4.
- Brandon King and Lendl Simmons are more likley to open the innings for the visitors.
Fatansy Team Prediction
- Wicket-Keeper – Nicholas Pooran
- Batsmen – Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer, Shimron Hetmyer, Lendl Simmons
- All-rounders – Kieron Pollard, Washington Sundar
- Bowlers – Y Chahal, M Shami, K Pierre
- Captain – Virat Kohli
- Vice-Captain – Kieron Pollard