What happened the last time India played a T20I at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad?

After a three-match ODI series, which was clinched by Team India by a margin of 2-1, West Indies are set to host the Men in Blue for a five-match T20I series, starting from August 3. The opening T20l is scheduled to be hosted at the Brian Lara Cricket Stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad.

Situated in the southern coastal part of Trinidad, the Brian Lara Stadium is one of the latest cricket grounds in the Caribbean Island. The surface at the venue offers great bounce to both pacers and spinners. It also hosted the third ODI between the two teams, where the Indian batters enjoyed batting in the first innings.

The venue has hosted only one T20I game so far, which was between the West Indies and India. The match took place in July 2022.

The hosts won the toss and chose to field first on the surface. India skipper Rohit Sharma led from the front with his impactful knock of 64 runs. The Men in Blue were able to post an impressive total of 190, thanks to Dinesh Karthik's late flurry (41 off 19).

The visitors dominated the second half of the game as well. The West Indian batters struggled to get going against the Indian bowlers and ultimately finished 122/8 after 20 overs.

Arshdeep Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravi Bishnoi took two wickets each for India.

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The five-match T20I series can help India give youngsters some quality game time against WI

Tilak Verma during Under-19 competition [Getty Images]

While the ICC ODI World Cup, which is slated to begin in a few months' time, deserves all the focus. Team India should also keep one eye on the T20 World Cup, which will be played in the first half of 2024.

Following India's win in the inaugural T20 World Cup win in 2007, the Men in Blue have largely failed in the recent editions of the mega event.

The upcoming five-match T20I series in the Caribbean, however, will give India a massive opportunity to try out young players. With this in mind, the team management has also named a relatively young squad, without many senior players in the mix.

India's squad for the T20Is vs West Indies:

Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (vc), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya (c), Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Avesh Khan, and Mukesh Kumar.