WI vs IND 1st T20 Match Prediction

WI vs IND Team Previews

West Indies

While West Indies were completely dominated by India in the Test series, they did have something to rejoice in the ODI series as they won the 2nd match. However, the euphoria was short-lived as they faced their biggest-ever loss against the visitors on home soil in the very next match and lost their 13th consecutive bilateral series against India.

Now, as Rovman Powell takes the mantle of the team from Shai Hope, West Indies will be hoping to bounce back in the shortest format. Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmeyer make a comeback in the T20 squad after a gap of almost a year and will strengthen the batting.

Hope has been one of West Indies’ most consistent performers in white-ball cricket and will look to replicate his form from the ODIs. Hetmeyer was dropped for the T20 World Cup last year but has been rewarded for his good performances in various T20 leagues.

Jason Holder, Johnson Charles, and Nicolas Pooran will play an important role in the middle order.

Akeal Hosein will replace Yannic Carriah as the team’s primary spinner, while Obed McCoy and Odean Smith will add heft to the pace attack. 

The return of West Indies's power hitters makes them dangerous and we know T20 cricket is their strong point but performing together as a cohesive unit has always been a challenge. 

India

Barring the loss in the 2nd ODI, India has hardly put a foot wrong on this tour. As the team prepares for the upcoming Asia Cup and the ODI World Cup, we expect them to continue playing well.

Skipper Hardik Pandya will lead a squad of relatively inexperienced players who have a good chance to showcase their talent. As many as 6 players from the ODI squad, including Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Jaydev Unadkat have been rested for this series.

India has reinforced its spin attack by bringing in Ravi Bishnoi, while Avesh Khan and Arshdeep Singh will feature in the pace attack alongside Umran Malik and Mukesh Kumar. Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was terrific in the most recent season of the IPL and made a brilliant Test debut, earns his maiden T20I call.

Similarly, Tilak Varma too has been rewarded for his fine performance for the Mumbai Indians. The duo will join the likes of Shubhman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, and Ishan Kishan in the batting line-up.

Overall, India has clearly picked a team looking at the future. We think aggressive batting at all stages of the game and some smart T20 bowling are likely to be on show. The Indian youngsters may lack international experience but they has played enough high-quality T20 cricket to not be overawed by the situation.