3 Reasons why West Indies might dominate India in the T20I series

West Indies is one of the best teams in the shortest format of the game, and the fact that they are the only team on the planet to win the ICC WT20 twice, just proves their dominance.

The team from the Caribbean has always produced quality players and big hitters. Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, DJ Bravo, Darren Sammy, Jason Holder, Carlos Brathwaite, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Samuel Badree are currently the biggest T20 stars in the world.

While the star players are rarely on national duty due to conflicts with their cricket board, the younger talents like Evin Lewis and Carlos Brathwaite have also stepped up and kept the West Indies team at the helm.

The Windies are currently touring India and were whitewashed 2-0 in the Test series. The team from the Caribbean Islands is not the same as it was earlier in the longest format of the game. Even in the ODI series, the Windies surrendered after giving the mighty Indian team a scare. However, the reigning World T20 champions possess the calibre to upset the world No.2 Indian team in the shortest format.

The visitors have declared their squad which goes as follows:

Carlos Brathwaite (C), Fabian Allen, Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer, Keemo Paul, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Andre Russell, Sherfane Rutherford, Oshane Thomas, Khary Pierre, Obed McCoy, Rovman Powell, Nicholas Pooran

Here are 3 reasons why Virat Kohli’s men might find it tough to defeat the Windies.

#3 IPL experience with the Windies players

Kieron Pollard has been the cornerstone of Mumbai Indians

Indian Premier League (IPL), played in the Indian conditions, has created opportunities for the foreign batsmen to adjust themselves to sub-continental pitches.

A plethora of Windies players of the T20 squad like Kieron Pollard (Mumbai Indians), Carlos Brathwaite (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Andre Russell (Kolkata Knight Riders) and others have played in the cash-rich T20 league.

India needs to be wary of this as the top Indian bowlers in Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kuldeep Yadav have been taken to the cleaners by the Caribbean batsmen.

#2 India's past record against Windies

Windies won the one-off T20 when India toured the Caribbean in 2017

India could not defeat the Windies in the last four encounters with Brathwaite’s men winning three and the fourth ending without any result. In fact, Windies ended the home team’s WT20 campaign in 2016 by defeating them in the semi-final. In the past, Evin Lewis and Lendl Simmons have performed brilliantly against the Indian bowling attack but are not a part of the squad.

Virat Kohli has been a part of the playing XI in all the four matches but he will be absent when his men take field in the T20I series. The Men in Blue have failed to perform up to the mark against the big-hitting West Indians as they have a 2-5 head-to-head record in international T20s.

The last time these two teams faced off, was on 9th July 2017, where Kohli’s men set a target of 191 for the home side. Evin Lewis’s 125* (62) blew away the mighty Indian bowling attack as the world champions won the match with nine wickets in hand.

#1 Match-winners in T20 format

Carlos Brathwaite

Having a closer look at the West Indies T20 squad, the cricket fans will recognize the key difference between the two sides.

The skipper of the Windies team, Carlos Brathwaite won them the ICC T20 World Cup by miraculously striking Ben Stokes for 4 consecutive sixes in the last over. Andre Russell’s IPL performances for Kolkata Knight Riders have elevated the West Indian to the position of the best all-rounder in the T20 format.

Kieron Pollard, though out of form currently, can swing the game in his team’s favour from any situation. Shimron Hetmyer’s big-hitting and Darren Bravo’s stability complete the world’s most destructive batting order.

On the other side, the Indian team has only Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul who can be considered as a match winners in the shortest format. Introducing Rishabh Pant may increase India’s chances but Hardik Pandya’s injury, added to MS Dhoni’s absence in the team, could neutralize the Rishabh Pant factor.

Who do you think will win the T20 series? Share your views in the comments section below.