Cricket: India to clash with West Indies in 2nd T20I at Providence Stadium in Guyana
In Cricket, India will take on West Indies in the second T20 International of the five-match series at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on Sunday (06 August 2023). The match will start at 8 PM Indian time. Team India will look to bounce right back after their defeat against the Hosts in the first T20 match by four runs at Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday.
The third match of the series will be played at the same venue on the 8th of this month at Providence Stadium in Guyana.
The last two matches will be played in the United States. The fourth match will be held on the 12th of August at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground at Lauderhill in Florida and the 5th match of the series will be played on the 13th of this month at the same venue.
India registered a 1-0 victory over West Indies in the Test series followed by a 2-1 win in the One-Day International series.
Making his debut, Tilak Varma hammered two sixes off his first three balls in international cricket during the first T20I. That was easily the only batting highlight in the Indian innings as they went down in that opening game against West Indies. The track wasn’t the easiest to bat on but a strong Indian lineup was expected to chase down 150 against a beleaguered West Indian outfit. But Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya and Sanju Samson looked out of sorts, thus leaving the lower order to get the job done. With India, that is one major issue that they will have to address in white-ball cricket.
The general consensus is that India fielded four No.11s in their playing XI. With the lower order not contributing with the bat at all, the onus is always on top 7 to step up. The visitors might brush it aside as a one-off performance but with the World Cup scheduled to be staged on these shores in less than 12 months, performances in this series will count. Hence, it’s very important for the likes of Kishan, Gill and Samson to show that they can deliver on the low, slow conditions prevalent in this part of the world.
Now that the caravan moves to Guyana, the pitches aren’t expected to be drastically different. The last time West Indies played here over a year ago, spin played a huge part. In an ODI against Bangladesh, both teams struggled to score freely. When the teams clashed again in a T20I, it wasn’t very different. So finding ways to push themselves beyond the par score will be the order of the day on Sunday which will not only help them square the series but prepare themselves for the bigger test next year.
Squads:
West Indies Squad: Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Johnson Charles, Nicholas Pooran(w), Rovman Powell(c), Shimron Hetmyer, Romario Shepherd, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Obed McCoy, Shai Hope, Roston Chase, Oshane Thomas, Odean Smith
India Squad: Ishan Kishan(w), Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mukesh Kumar, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ravi Bishnoi, Umran Malik, Avesh Khan
