India lead the five-match T20I series 2-1 after wins in the first and third matches
The fourth T20I will be played on Tuesday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad
A win for India would seal the series and make the fifth match a dead rubber
India can seal the five-match T20I series on Wednesday, October 14, when they meet West Indies in the fourth game at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. The hosts are 2-1 ahead after India won the first and third matches and West Indies claimed the second. A win here would make the fifth game a dead rubber.
The tour has already been played on extremely high-scoring pitches, including the three ODIs that came before the T20Is, and Hyderabad could produce another run-heavy game. It is the ground where India once came close to 300 in a T20I. It also serves as Sunrisers Hyderabad's IPL home, a venue where scoring marks have fallen in recent seasons. Abhishek Sharma is central to SRH's power-hitting
India found a more balanced bowling unit in the third T20I. The extra pacer helped. The match was the first on this tour in which a side successfully defended a total. India may therefore stick with that template in Hyderabad and keep Kuldeep Yadav on the bench.
Kuldeep Yadav’s numbers in this series do not suit a spinner who is supposed to control the middle overs. He was decent in Lucknow, going for 33 in four overs for two wickets, but Ranchi told a different story. He returned 1-53 from four overs, an economy of 13.25, and conceded 24 in his final over as West Indies closed in on 250. Across the two games that is 3 wickets for 86 in eight overs, about 10.75 an over, against hitters like Shai Hope and Sherfane Rutherford who attack wrist-spin without fear.
Rutherford hit 84 off 37 balls and Kuldeep only broke the stand once it had reached 178 for 4. Prince Yadav’s inclusion solves this. Indore is a small ground with a flat pitch, and India clearly wanted a pace-heavy attack, with a young quick offering extra pace and bounce in place of a spinner who was being targeted. The move worked as India won by 14 runs to lead the series 2-1, and Prince also hit three fours off Shamar Joseph in the final over to finish on 13 not out.
Shivam Dube’s problem has been that he has offered nothing in either role, which is a costly position for an all-rounder. In Ranchi he made 7 off 10 balls, bowled by Roston Chase, and bowled two wicketless overs for 30 runs, an economy of 15. One of those overs cost 14 and another cost 16 as Hope took the game away.
An all-rounder is picked to balance the side, and Dube was neither scoring quickly nor containing runs. Nitish Kumar Reddy offers a better balance. He bowls seam, bats in the middle order and is a sharper fielder, so the XI loses nothing by the swap. Indore showed it: he dismissed Quentin Sampson for 21 off 15 balls with West Indies chasing 224, which helped India keep the required rate out of reach. With Nitish and Prince in the side, India looked more balanced, and the two changes gave the team a sharper bowling attack without costing it batting depth
Predicted XIs
India: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (C), Tilak Varma, Naman Dhir, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Arshdeep Singh
