India and the West Indies enter the fifth and final T20I in Bengaluru with the series tied 2-2
The first four matches have produced 1,746 runs, with 200-plus totals in six of eight completed innings
Batters have averaged 34.92 and struck at 180.93, both record marks for a bilateral series of four or more matches
India and the West Indies are competing fiercely in a five-match T20I series. The series is levelled at 2-2, with the decider to be played at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, on Saturday.
The first four matches of the series have been nothing short of a run-scoring spree for the batters. They have smashed bowlers for fours and sixes as if they are in a Video Game.
This brings us to a question: do pitches in India favour batters more, while treating the bowlers as the sidekicks? Let's try to find this out through some stats:
India vs West Indies: The Numbers Behind the Run-Fest
India and the West Indies have combined to score 200-plus totals in six of the eight innings played so far in the series.
A total of 1746 runs have been scored in across the four matches, making this the sixth-highest-scoring bilateral series in the history of the format among the Test-playing nations. With one match still to go, it can become just the third series with more than two thousand runs.
Batters have averaged 34.92 in the series; the highest in a four-or-more-match bilateral series. Bowlers have leaked runs at an astonishing 11.49 RPO economy rate; the worst in a four-or-more-match bilateral series.
Batters have batted with a strike rate of 180.93, which is the best in a bilateral series played between two Test-playing nations with four or more matches.
The series has already seen three centuries, two of them smashed by West Indies captain Shai Hope, making it one of the three bilaterals with three-plus individual hundreds.
Most Runs In A Bilateral Series Among Test Playing Nations
| Series Name | Year | Runs | Average | Wickets | Balls | RPO |
| West Indies in India T20I Series | 2026/27 | 1746 | 34.92 | 50 | 911 | 11.49 |
| Scotland in Ireland T20I Series | 2015 | 629 | 33.1 | 19 | 446 | 8.46 |
| England in India T20I Series | 2020/21 | 1672 | 32.15 | 52 | 1150 | 8.72 |
| England in Pakistan T20I Series | 2022 | 2402 | 31.19 | 77 | 1630 | 8.84 |
| England in West Indies T20I Series | 2024/25 | 1461 | 31.08 | 47 | 930 | 9.42 |
| New Zealand in India T20I Series | 2025/26 | 2029 | 30.74 | 66 | 1102 | 11.04 |
| India in New Zealand T20I Series | 2019/20 | 1681 | 30.56 | 55 | 1179 | 8.55 |
| Australia in India T20I Series | 2023/24 | 1932 | 30.18 | 64 | 1199 | 9.66 |
| India in England T20I Series | 2026 | 1622 | 28.96 | 56 | 987 | 9.86 |
| Australia in West Indies T20I Series | 2025 | 1907 | 28.89 | 66 | 1118 | 10.23 |
How India's T20 Numbers Compare This Year
The series between India and the West Indies clearly favours batters, but is this normal, or a rare instance of flat pitches?
Looking at the statistics from bilateral series hosted by nations that have staged more than five T20Is this year provides crucial context.
Eight nations—India, England, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, the UAE, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka—have hosted more than five T20Is this year, with neutral venues in the UAE hosting matches for Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Ireland, and the West Indies.
Among these countries, India have the worst bowling average at 32.34. The strike rate of 18.2 is also the second-worst, just behind England's 18.4.
Best Strike Rate In A Country In 2026
| Host Country | Matches | Runs | Batting Average | Strike Rate | 100 | 50 | 4s |
| in India | 12 | 4512 | 29.1 | 170.84 | 5 | 20 | 415 |
| in England | 8 | 2420 | 25.47 | 151.81 | 2 | 13 | 212 |
| in Pakistan | 6 | 1884 | 23.55 | 136.81 | 0 | 11 | 167 |
| in Sri Lanka | 5 | 1345 | 19.21 | 133.69 | 0 | 3 | 126 |
For batters, India is the ultimate paradise, with a batting average of 29.1 and a strike rate of 170.84, the best across the globe. Five centuries have been smashed in India this year, the most, with England in second place with two individual hundreds.
These figures demonstrate how significantly Indian surfaces skew towards batters, creating punishing conditions for bowlers and disrupting the core equilibrium between bat and ball.
