- By Aalok Sensharma
- Sun, 08 Dec 2019 01:17 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Thiruvananthapuram | Jagran Sports Desk: The Indian cricket team will face West Indies in the second T20I at Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday and the Men in Blue would look to improve their show in the bowling and the fielding departments, eyeing to wrap up yet another T20I series.
Team India would also look to test the youngsters in the squad ahead of the World T20 in Australia next year.
The Men in Blue on Friday defeated the West Indies by six-wickets and took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series and a win here on Sunday would help them seal their second series in the shortest format in this home season.
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On Friday, team India pulled off their highest successful run chase in a T20 as they chased down a challenging 207 for 5, posted by the Windies, in 18.4 overs. Thanks to skipper Kohli (94 not out) and a handy innings from KL Rahul (62), the Men in Blue were able to win the match with eight balls to spare.
The batting was brilliant but the same can’t be said for the bowling as the bowlers found themselves at the receiving end of some power-hitting by Evin Lewis, Shimron Hetmyer and captain Kieron Pollard.
Deepak Chahar, who had impressed in the South Africa and Bangladesh series, struggled with his line and length. He took one wicket but gave away 54 runs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who made his return in the squad, too went wicketless. He gave 36 runs in his four overs.
Spinner Washington Sundar also struggled and India might just think of giving a chance to Kuldeep Yadav as Sundar has claimed just two wickets in his last six T20Is.
The fielding was also very poor from the Men in Blue and the hosts will look to quickly pull up their socks.
The Windies, on the other hand, will be desperate to bounce back and keep the series alive but for that they will have to find a way to stop the Indian batsmen, led by Kohli as their bowlers appeared clueless as Kohli went on the overdrive on Friday.
Skipper Pollard would want his bowlers to contribute more and find a way to stop the Indian batting line up, which is led by Virat Kohli. He also admitted that his side failed to execute its plans properly and would hope for an improved performance if they have to take the series to the decider and avenge their 0-3 loss to the same opponent in their own backyard in August.
Teams (from):
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Sanju Samson.
West Indies: Kieron Pollard (captain), Fabian Allen, Brandon King, Denesh Ramdin, Sheldon Cottrell, Evin Lewis, Sherfane Rutherford, Shimron Hetmyer, Khary Pierre, Lendl Simmons, Jason Holder, Hayden Walsh Jr, Keemo Paul, Kesrick Williams.
Match starts 7 pm IST.
(With PTI inputs)
