3 Indian cricketers to watch out for in the T20I series against West Indies

After the Test and ODI series between India and West Indies, now it's time for the T20s. The shortest format series will be played from 4th to 11th November, and is expected to gain a lot of interest from the fans.

This is the favorite format of the West Indies team, who are currently the World T20 champions. Accordingly, this series is expected to be more competitive than the Tests and ODIs.

The T20 specialists of the West Indian team Andre Russell, Kieron Pollard and Carlos Brathwaite are back in the team. On the other hand, MS Dhoni has been dropped from the Indian T20I squad while Virat Kohli has been rested, giving Rohit Sharma the captaincy reins.

Here, we take a look at three Indian players to watch out for in the T20I series against West Indies:

#3 KL Rahul

KL Rahul was a part of the ODI squad as well but didn't get a chance to play. In the T20I series though, he is expected to play all the matches. In fact, Rahul is considered to be the second best T20 batsman in the squad after Rohit Sharma.

In the last T20I series against England, Rahul scored an century while batting at number 3. He is expected to bat at number 3 in this series as well, but many believe he deserves to open in place of Shikhar Dhawan.

Rahul's T20I numbers are just amazing. He has scored 696 runs in 17 innings at an average of 49.71 and has already hit two centuries. He is among the three Indian players who have scored at least one century in all the formats.

It will be very interesting to see how Rahul will utilize the opportunity to bat at No. 3 in the absence of Virat Kohli.

#2 Krunal Pandya

Krunal Pandya

Despite being an uncapped player, Krunal Pandya is a well-known T20 player in the cricket world. He is a hard-hitting left-handed batsman and a decent left-arm spinner.

Krunal has been one of the most important players for Mumbai Indians since his IPL debut. In 39 IPL matches he has scored 708 runs at an impressive strike rate of 153.91, and has also taken 28 wickets.

He was included in the Indian T20I squad for the series against England but didn't get a chance to play. He is expected to play in the series against West Indies though, as a first choice all-rounder.

It will be interesting to see how Krunal will bat in the lower middle order and bowl in the middle overs, and whether he makes his international debut a memorable one.

#1 Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant is a promising young talent to say the least. He has already shown what he is capable of in Tests, having scored a century in England. Now it is time for him to prove his worth in limited overs too.

Pant performed really well in IPL 2018, scoring 684 runs in 14 matches. He is the kind of batsman who is perfectly suited to the T20 format.

Pant made his T20I debut against England during the home series in 2017. He has played four T20Is so far and has scored just 73 runs. But this will be a golden opportunity for him to establish his place in the Indian T20I side as a wicket-keeper batsman in the absence of MS Dhoni.

Pant is a batsman who can bat in the top order as well as in the middle order, but against West Indies he is expected to play in the middle.