IND vs WI 2023: 3 Player Battles to watch out for in 1st T20I

A new-look Team India under Hardik Pandya is set to begin their preparation for the T20 World Cup next year with the five-match T20I series beginning at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, Trinidad on Thursday, August 3.

The Men in Blue seemed to have moved on from senior players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the shortest format after the T20 World Cup last year and a number of fresh faces are set to feature in the T20I series.

The West Indies (WI), on the other hand, will arguably be the most competitive in the shortest format and with big names like Nicholas Pooran returning to the squad, it promises to be a hard-fought series. On that note, let's take a look at the three player battles that could potentially decide who wins the first T20I:

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#3 Suryakumar Yadav vs Akeal Hosein

Suryakumar Yadav has had a tough time in the ODI series against the West Indies as he wasn't able to convert any of his starts into a half-century. He returns to the format where he is the No.1 ranked batter and is expected to get back to his belligerent best.

However, even in T20 cricket, SKY has been troubled by left-arm spin and his numbers against Akeal Hosein tell the story. Suryakumar has scored just 23 runs from 24 balls off Hosein in T20Is and has been dismissed once. It will be interesting to see how the star Indian batter approaches this potential negative match-up.

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#2 Nicholas Pooran vs Kuldeep Yadav

Nicholas Pooran wasn't available for selection in the ODIs, but has been sensational in the shortest format of late. He was superb for MI New York, smashing a hundred in the final to make them the inaugural champions of Major League Cricket (MLC).

Pooran has shown in the IPL as well just how much he loves to take down the spinners. However, his numbers against Kuldeep Yadav in the shortest format are pretty poor.

The southpaw has scored just 18 runs off 21 balls faced from the Indian spinner and has also been dismissed twice. With both players in fine form, this makes it quite an intriguing match-up to look forward to.

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#1 Sanju Samson vs Jason Holder

Sanju Samson came to the party in the third ODI, scoring a quickfire 51 and proving he has the ability to hit from ball one. He has shared the dressing room with all-rounder Jason Holder in the IPL and must have faced the latter in the nets as well.

Interestingly, Holder has dismissed Samson as many as four times in the shortest format, with the batter scoring just 55 runs from 50 balls that he has faced from the all-rounder.

Jason Holder has gotten a bit of a hammering of late, as seen in the World Cup Qualifiers against the Netherlands. So it will be interesting to see if he is able to get the better of Samson or does the Indian batter set the records straight.