With the series hanging in the balance, both West Indies and India were poised for an enthralling contest. The series had witnessed a slew of exceptional individual displays, and the onus rested on the players to excel in the decisive match. Amidst several standout performances, such as Surya Kumar Yadav’s splendid 61, Pooran’s swift and impactful 47, and Shepard’s astute execution in the death overs, it was Akeal Hosein’s impactful spell and Brandon King’s impeccably paced innings that turned out to be pivotal. Their contributions culminated in West Indies clinching a historic triumph – their first-ever T20 bilateral series victory against India. This victory also signifies their first series win against India in a span of 17 years.

In the following article, we will assess Akeal Hosein’s pitch map to analyze his landing areas and delve into Brandon King’s repertoire of shots.

Akeal Hosein’s Powerplay Prowess

Also read: India Equalizes Series Against West Indies on the Back of Kuldeep’s Outstanding Form and a Youthful Opening Duo – Cricket Winner

While Romario Shepard, with his cunning variations picked up 4 wickets in the death overs, it was Akeal Hosein’s early wickets which were body blows for team India. The latter has been a common sight for the West Indies during powerplays, consistently showcasing his skills. He’s bagged 13 wickets at an economy of 8.1 in this phase, which is quite good. His strength lies in his arm ball, a delivery that moves in the air, playing with the batsmen’s minds, even though he doesn’t rely heavily on variations.

He generally bowled more to the right-handed batters, but he started off his spell against the left-handed Yashasvi Jaiswal. He kept things very tight and bowled a stump-to-stump line. While he bowled a bit fuller initially, the batter was comfortable with this length. Hosein immediately changed his length and bowled it a bit shorter on the off stump to get some turn, which ultimately reaped the reward.

To the right handers, he focused more on the good length (42%) regions in order to generate a bit of turn and bounce. But he indeed possessed a wonderful variation with his lengths when he trapped Gill leg before wicket by bowling a slightly fullish length delivery, inducing him to the sweep shot. With respect to his variations, he bowled 9 arm balls and picked up his 2 wickets while he bowled 13 stock length deliveries with no wickets, but he maintained a firm grip on the scoring rate.

Brandon King’s impeccably paced knock

Brandon King has been a regular for West Indies in the last few years. He usually provides good starts, but he has issues in converting them into big scores. But his recent knock against India was a much-needed knock and it couldn’t have come at a better instance.

The graph above illustrates King’s shot selection throughout his innings, revealing a well-rounded array of strokes. Notably, his standout shot was the front foot drive, contributing around 31% of his total runs. Furthermore, he demonstrated competence in employing the front foot slog (15%) and exhibited an intent to advance down the track against spinners, resulting in approximately 17% of his runs being garnered through this approach.

While the majority of his shots were executed from a front-foot position, he also effectively employed back-foot play, accounting for nearly 25 percent of his total runs scored using this technique. Brandon King’s only challenge arose when facing the Chinaman bowler, Kuldeep Yadav, as he managed to accumulate just 5 runs from the 11 deliveries. This is an aspect which he will be aiming to address and improve upon in the future.

In a thrilling display of cricketing prowess, the Indian team roared back into contention by levelling the series against the West Indies. With an astounding batting display, India showcased their dominance on the field. The instrumental factors behind this resurgence were the remarkable form of Kuldeep Yadav and the dynamic vigor brought by the youthful opening partnership.

Initiating with a commanding run rate of over 9 in the powerplay, West Indies encountered a setback at 123/7 due to interventions by Arshdeep and Kuldeep. Yet, Shimron Hetmyer and Shai Hope’s strategic play propelled them to a competitive 178. Meanwhile, India’s opening tandem, featuring Jaiswal and Gill, achieved a milestone by matching a record-equaling T20I partnership. While Jaiswal kicked off aggressively, Gill chose a patient approach and initially stepped back. He initiated his counterattack once Jaiswal had laid a foundation for India’s chase.

In this article, let’s delve more extensively into their opening partnership and also conduct a detailed pitch map analysis of Kuldeep’s landing zones.

Kuldeep’s Outstanding form

In this series, while the average economy rate of Indian bowlers has tallied at 8.23, Kuldeep Yadav has notably distinguished himself with an economy rate of merely 6.17—the most commendable among all bowlers in the series. While today’s pitch was definitely a good surface for the batter, it didn’t stop Kuldeep from playing some mind games with his subtle variations.

Also read: Match Analysis: Kuldeep Yadav’s Web of Mastery and SKY’s Brilliance Lead India to a Victory Over the West Indies – Cricket Winner

As seen in the pitch map, Kuldeep majorly bowled to the left-handed batters and most of the time, he stuck to his stump-to-stump line and generally bowled fuller lengths. A couple of times when he had missed out on his radar, he was smashed to the boundary. But the best part of his spell was the delivery he had bowled to Nicholas Pooran, where he bravely flighted it just outside off stump and bowled a googly. Pooran had misjudged the googly and tried to go over covers, only to hit it straight down the throat of long off.

His setup to Powell was even better. A ball before the wicket, he delivered a ripping googly outside the off stump which just missed the outer part of the blade. He then followed it up with a googly on the leg stump which forced to Powell to play at, only for him to edge it to slip. While Shimron Hetmyer was generally comfortable against Kuldeep, the latter still kept things tight and ended with up with brilliant figures of 2/26 on a good batting track. With respect to his variations, he bowled 6 googlies which resulted in his 2 wickets and 5 runs, while his leg break generated 21 runs in 18 deliveries.

The Youthful Opening Duo

Shubman Gill rose to the occasion with a pivotal innings when it was needed most. His partnership with Jaiswal yielded a remarkable total of 165 runs, marking a record-equaling opening stand for India in T20Is. Here, we will be performing a type of shot analysis for both the players to see the kind of shots they played on an individual level.

From first glance, we can see that Gill has a pronounced variety in shots in comparison to Jaiswal. The latter also possessed some wonderful array of shots, but his most dominant trait was the front foot drive with close to 37 percent of his runs scored with this shot. But once he had settled, he tried a variety of shots ranging from a reverse sweep to a scoop, but his front foot slog garnered close to 17 percent of his runs.

Gill on the other hand took his time but once he had settled down, he boasted his extensive variety of shots with close to 22 percent of the runs scored in the front foot slog. Gill also didn’t over hit his drives and rather preferred the front foot push, scoring close to 15 percent of his runs with this shot. His pull shot is a sight to behold with close to 24 percent of his runs scored with this shot.

While we await the prospect of sustained performances from the Indian opening pair, this partnership stands as a testament to the skill set possessed by our emerging young talents.

WI vs IND, T20I: West Indies 141 for 5 (King 68, Thomas 31*, Jadeja 1-16) beat India 138 (Pandya 31, Jadeja 27, McCoy 6-17) by five wickets

West Indies confounded a comfortable chase of 139, before a final over no-ball by Avesh Khan turned into the trigger for a five-wicket win that evened out the five-match series against India. West Indies took it deep as India’s bowlers fixed the screws in the middle overs – a condition of 75 off 72 balls, with nine wickets close by, became 27 off 18, and afterward 10 off the last finished – however Devon Thomas profited by the free-hit to hammer a six followed by a four to wrap up the pursuit.

Prior in the day, Obed McCoy accomplished West Indies’ best bowling figures in T20Is – and the best against India by any side in the format- as the guests furnished one more look into the future with a showcase of their freshly discovered T20 technique, showing a readiness to gamble successes regardless of the deficiency of fast wickets.

Opener Brandon King then, at that point, made 68 off 52 balls, ensuring he held one end up in a pursuit of 139.

McCoy pushed India back in the death overs, where he got four of his six wickets after getting the first two inside the third over of the match. India collided with 138 all out with two balls left in their innings subsequent to being 104 for 4 in the fourteenth over, with the scoring evaporating extensively as the wickets fell; only 37 runs fell off the last seven overs.

No units in St Kitts

The match started around the time it had initially been planned to end, following a three-hour hold-up brought about by the deferred appearance of the groups’ gear and packs from Trinidad, the scene of the principal T20I on Friday. Rather than 10am, the toss at long last occurred at 1pm.

McCoy aces the powerplay and the death overs

After all that pausing, the observers got a huge piece of activity off the absolute first bundle of the match, as Rohit Sharma fought a lifter to short third off the shoulder of his bat; the additional skip McCoy acquired ended up being an unequivocal component as the innings advanced. He bowled a wicket-maiden to begin the match, blending back-of-a-length and more full deliveries to keep new player Shreyas Iyer calm throughout the following five balls.

In the third over, once more, McCoy struck, welcoming Suryakumar Yadav to drive at, and edge behind, a full-length delivery bowled form wide of the crease and calculated across the right-hander.

India continued to take their risks through the powerplay in spite of the early wickets, with the short limits at Warner Park supplementing their forceful goal. They finished the first six overs 56 for 3, having hit five sixes as of now – yet the one four – and the rollercoaster early period finished in the seventh over, when Rishabh Pant fell for 24 off 12 balls. Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja went into modify mode from that point, adding 43 off as many balls.

India’s scoring rate had mellowed when McCoy got back to astonish the seventeenth – they were 112 for 5 – yet they had Jadeja and an in-form Dinesh Karthik at the crease. Then McCoy affected a difference in pace, drawing Jadeja to hang a catch to long-on.

All five fell off that over, and with India’s energy sucked dry, McCoy struck three additional times in the nineteenth over. In the wake of getting Karthik captured at short fine leg, he spotted R Ashwin attempting to rearrange across his stumps, and slipped the ball more extensively, driving the player to sky it to deep point while hitting against the breeze.

ALSO READ: Indian team for Zimbabwe, No Virat in the team

A tad of karma likewise turned out well for McCoy when a reluctant survey by Nicholas Pooran uncovered that Bhuvneshwar Kumar had stimulated a tight, long length delivery to the wicketkeeper, adjusting a fantasy spell.

Shimron Hetmyer fell not too long a while later, and when Avesh excused King in the sixteenth over, West Indies’ condition was 32 off 27 balls with six wickets close by. Arshdeep Singh and Pandya then made it 23 off 14 with ten boundary-less balls, before Thomas delivered the strain by clubbing Hardik for six. Arshdeep swung the game once again with a perfect nineteenth over, yielding only six runs while getting Rovman Powell bowled, however Avesh’s last-over no-ball, and Thomas’ ice-cool hitting, took West Indies over the line.

Preview

West Indies vs India: India used spin well to choke West Indies in the first game. There were a lot of throwbacks with Dinesh Karthik finishing well followed by Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja choking the West Indies. The West Indies line-up looks promising with both bat and ball. Consistency though is an issue, and if they manage to find a little more persistence they will be a lot more dangerous while closing out games.

Match Details

Match: West Indies vs India

Date: 1st August 2022

Time: 8:00 PM IST

Venue: Warner Park, Basseterre, St Kitts

Weather Report

The weather is cloudy and cool for the day of the West Indies vs India fixture with occasional rain in the air.

Pitch Report

The track is expected to be dry and play a little low as most tracks do in the Caribbean. Batting first is a better option.

West Indies vs India Predicted Playing XI

West Indies Playing XI

Kyle Mayers, Brandon King, Nicholas Pooran(c,wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Rovmann Powell, Jason Holder, Odean Smith, Alzarri Joseph, Akeal Hossein, Obed McCoy, Hayden Walsh Jr

India Playing XI

Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda/Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(wk), Dinesh Karthik/ Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel/ Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin/Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh

Key Players

Akeal Hossein

Akeal Hossein’s fielding and bowling are constantly on the rise. He is picking up blinders and taking wickets while maintaining a nice economy. His batting to is pretty good, and looking at his improvement, he surely has a promising future ahead.

Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik is the talk of the town now. He is making the most of his comeback and has defined what role clarity can do to a players confidence. His 41 off 19 balls was right in the top-drawer and stopping him now looks to be a huge challenge. He is striking the ball beautifully and has all but reserved his ticket to Australia.

See Also: Sundar takes 5 wickets haul on County Debut – Cricket Winner

West Indies vs India Match Tips

The first T20 was far to one-sided. West Indies were choked by spin and that could be the case in the second game as well with India likely to play a similar line-up. Unless West Indies manage to tackle the Indian spinners they are going to have a tough time this series.

Match Prediction: India Will Win the Match

India ace finisher Dinesh Karthik’s unbeaten 41 off just 19 balls in the first T20I against West Indies in Tarouba grabbed everybody’s eye.

Karthik came out to bat after the excusal of captain Rohit Sharma in the fifteenth over. The wicket-manager player was simply ready to add 11 runs with Ravindra Jadeja before the all-rounder got excused in the sixteenth over. Karthik was phenomenal at his role as he batted mindfully before going for huge hits against the West Indies bowling attack.

The 37-year-old Karthik began delayed as he figured out how to score only 17 runs in his first 12 deliveries, however at that point he crushed electrifying 24 runs at a strike pace of 342.85 in the last 7 balls of his innings. He was flawless while batting with Ravichandran Ashwin as he added 52 runs in only 25 balls with the off-spinner.

Karthik’s comeback to the Indian time has been a centre table discussion for some time now and it doesn’t appear to stop whenever as he is simply moving high above with game dominating performances.

This is a gander at the way twitter responded to his bursting thump against Windies in first T20I:

Karthik’s batting was a treat to eyes for all cricket fans and they botched no a potential open door in valuing his exhibition. The fans complimented him in different ways on Twitter and here’s our pick of the bunch:

India skipper Rohit Sharma was the top-scorer in Tarouba with 64 off 44 balls. While he stood firm on the pitch, he didn’t get a lot of help from the opposite end as India’s top order failed to create a decent show with bat.

Suryakumar Yadav was advanced as an opener yet couldn’t contribute much as he returned to form at only 24 runs off 16 balls. A ton of expectations were on the young batters yet Shreyas Iyer (0 off 4), Rishabh Pant ( 14 off 12) and Hardik Pandya (1 off 3) didn’t perform well. That is when Karthik exhibited his abilities and took India to 190/6 out of 20 overs.

ALSO READ: WI vs IND, 1st T20I: IND wins by 68 runs!

While chasing 191, Windies confronted a top-notch action from Indian spinners as they wore the pants when the hosts came to bat on a similar pitch. Arshdeep Singh, R Ashwin and Ravi Bishnoi took two each and took India to a simple success.

India will take on West Indies in the second T20I on August 1 (Monday) at Warner Park Stadium, Basseterre.

WI vs IND, 1st T20I: India 190 for 6 (Rohit 64, Karthik 41*, Joseph 2-46) beat West Indies 122 for 8 (Brooks 20, Ashwin 2-22, Arshdeep 2-24, Bishnoi 2-26) by 68 runs

In the first international match at Brian Lara Stadium, India’s transition to go in with three spinners – instead of West Indies’ one – procured rich profits as Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin and Ravi Bishnoi consolidated to pick five of the eight wickets to fall, helping them to a 68-run win in the primary T20I of the five match series.

In T20s before Friday at this ground, spinners had an economy pace of 6.31, which is the fourth-most reduced among every one of the matches in the West Indies. They arrived at the midpoint of 20.91 – again the fourth-most reduced at any Caribbean scene where spinners have bowled in excess of ten innings.

India figured out how to post a tall 190 for 6 on an apparently slowish surface, because of skipper Rohit Sharma’s 50 years and Dinesh Karthik’s ideal finishing act of an unbeaten 41 off only 19 balls before the West Indies’ batting was caught in the web of spin.

One more partner for Rohit

Subsequent to being put to bat, Rohit left with another accomplice, Suryakumar Yadav, who was the seventh opener for India in T20Is this year. Suryakumar got rolling rapidly with a four off Obed McCoy in the first over and afterward one more off Jason Holder in the following. His brand name wristily-flick for six over fine leg likewise showed up – debutant Alzarri Joseph bearing the ignominy.

Anyway Akeal Hosein’s presentation had Suryakumar slowing down. He was dropped off the main ball from the spinner before a top edge on the extremely next ball saw it sidestep the bowler running back. Notwithstanding, Hosein triumphed ultimately in the following over after Suryakumar’s endeavoured whip brought about a thick driving edge to short third.

Change in pace prompts change of momentum

India had dashed to 44 inside five overs yet Suryakumar’s wicket dialled back the proceedings. In spite of finding two or three limits right off the bat, Rohit attempted to move the ball away. With the oddball holding the surface, Hosein and McCoy utilised that for their potential benefit with the last option excusing Shreyas Iyer for a four-ball duck.

While Rohit got his eye in, Rishabh Pant tossed his hands around to get two or three fours. Their partnership of 43 off only 25 balls assisted Rohit with letting loose himself. However at that point India lost Pant and Hardik Pandya – who sloped a Joseph short ball directly to deep third for his maiden T20I wicket – with hardly a pause in between to wind up at 102 for 4 with more than eight overs left.

The ideal showdown

In the meantime Rohit got to his 27th 50 years in T20Is off 35 balls. Right when he began speeding up, he slapped Holder directly to sweeper cover. At 131 for 5 out of 15 overs on a track dialling back, India looked on course to complete around the 170-run mark.

Yet again however Karthik aced in his assigned finisher’s job to assist India with drawing near to 200. He utilised the crease well to put the bowlers off their lines and lengths. In the company of Ashwin, he took a toll on the blundering Holder and McCoy to assist India with gathering 36 off the last two overs.

ALSO READ: Virat Controversy: Akash Malhotra joins in

Spin to win

In their quest for 191, Kyle Mayers got West Indies looking fast so far, assisting them with scoring 11 off Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s first over and as numerous in the first three balls of Arshdeep Singh over. Notwithstanding, Arshdeep figured out how to delude Mayers with an off-pace short ball to crash-land the chase.

Holder, sent in at No. 3 couldn’t see off Ravindra Jadeja’s twist while Ashwin figured out how to see the back of the left-handers in Nicholas Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer. Ravi Bishnoi then excused Rovman Powell and Odean Smith in progressive overs to essentially seal the match.

Preview

West Indies vs India: West Indies are in to play there favorite format. When it comes to the T20 format they are full of superstars who enjoy blasting away. India are not far behind though. They are playing with a new approach, looking to be aggressive from the onset. The likes of Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant are back for the T20Is, allowing India to come at near full-strength.

Match Details

Match: West Indies vs India

Date: 29th July 2022

Time: 8:00 PM IST

Venue: Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba, Trinidad

Weather Report

The weather is cloudy and cool for the day of the West Indies vs India fixture with occasional rain in the air.

Pitch Report

The Port of Spain track is expected to be dry and play a little low as most tracks do in the Caribbean. Batting first is a better option.

West Indies vs India Predicted Playing XI

West Indies Playing XI

Kyle Mayers, Brandon King, Nicholas Pooran(c,wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Rovmann Powell, Jason Holder, Odean Smith, Alzarri Joseph, Akeal Hossein, Obed McCoy, Hayden Walsh Jr

India Playing XI

Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda/Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(wk), Dinesh Karthik/ Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel/ Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin/Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh

Key Players

Shimron Hetmyer

Shimron Hetmyer was left out to work on his fitness. He is back again after proving he is fit but will he be able to find his form with the bat. In the IPL, he did very well in the finishers role, looking clear and batting with responsibility. If he can manage to find his range, West Indies will be very happy and look very destructive.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has made himself an undroppable player in the team. His pace is decent, he is getting swing out of nowhere, and he is picking up early wickets with ease. With Kumar back, India has a strong advantage early in the game, if he comes into his elements.

See Also: Sundar takes 5 wickets haul on County Debut – Cricket Winner

West Indies vs India Match Tips

West Indies are pretty strong in T20Is but they will have a tough time against India, who are in good form at the moment. India are fresh off a series win in England, and should be pretty confident.

Match Prediction: India Will Win the Match

India mentor Rahul Dravid praised the “professionalism” of his young outfit which has shown some “extraordinary signs” pushing ahead while directing the West Indies 3-0 in their own terrace in the fair finished up ODI series. Shikhar Dhawan on Wednesday turned into the very first captain of an Indian team that spotlessly cleared West Indies on their home soil after the guests whipped the host group by 119 runs in the third and last ODI here.

“We came here with a really young team. Lot of the guys who played the England series didn’t play here and the way you guys have responded, the way you guys played in three games and the level of professionalism you showed…,”

Dravid said in his dressing room speech after the final ODI.

“Couple of tight games and to get on the right side of those high-pressure games, some terrific performances under pressure was a really great sign for a very young team. Really well done by Shikhar. I think he led very well. Well done to all of you, terrific performance.”

Dravid also praised Dhawan for his able leadership.

Dhawan said this young Indian team has the potential to achieve many more successes in future. 

“As a team, we would like to thank the support staff and all the team members who have helped us. Really appreciate your support. And well done boys, both batting and bowling unit. You guys did amazing. You guys are young and have a vision to become much more than what you are today. You guys have already started taking those steps and you guys will go a long way,”

Dhawan said.

ALSO READ: SL vs PAK, 2nd Test, Day 5: SL wins by 246 runs!

The captain finished his discourse with a victorious shout: “Who are we? Champions.” The activity currently moves to the five-match T20 series against the West Indies to start in Tarouba on Friday.

WI vs IND, 3rd ODI: India 225 for 3 (Gill 98*; Dhawan 58, Iyer 44, Walsh 2-57) beat West Indies 137 (Pooran 42, King 42, Chahal 4-17) by 119 runs by means of DLS strategy.

The first two matches of the series were tight challenges where the two teams stayed in dispute until the last ball was bowled. Though, India had it a lot more straightforward during the third ODI in Port-of-Spain, as the visitors finished a 3-0 sweep of West Indies following contributions from Shubman Gill, who hit a career-best 98 not out, Shikhar Dhawan, who got 58, and Shreyas Iyer, who contributed a quickfire 44. Every one of their bowlers contributed as well, as West Indies fell away fast during the chase.

The hosts were approached to pursue a DLS-revised target of 257 out of 35 overs after India posted 225 out of 36, their innings ending early after a two-and-a-half-hour rain delay had previously trimmed it down to 40 overs.

Mohammed Siraj put West Indies on the back foot in the second over of the pursuit, when he tidied Kyle Mayers up with a decent length delivery prior to catching Shamarh Brooks in front with one that calculated in. West Indies were 0 for 2 at that stage, with nine deliveries gone.

Brandon King and Shai Hope momentarily brought them back in the groove again with a 47-run stand before Yuzvendra Chahal had Hope stumped for 22. King was then joined by Nicholas Pooran in another partnership that gave West Indies trust, before Axar Patel’s arm ball in the fourteenth over bowled King for 42.

However, following, Pooran fired a six and four off Deepak Hooda, keeping his side above water as the expected rate drifted around eight an over. Nonetheless, Keacy Carty’s battle to get moving at the opposite end appeared to return tension on Pooran; when Carty at long last chosen to try something different, he skirted down to Shardul Thakur in the nineteenth over just to base edge on to his stumps for 5 off 17 balls.

By then, at that point, West Indies required almost 10 an over, and in spite of the fact that Pooran hit two additional fours off Axar, he fell for 42 in the 22nd over to everything except end the game, which had been set up by India’s opening batters Gill and Dhawan.

In their third effective partnership in a row- following stands of 119 and 48 and presently 113 – the right-left pair began quietly in what was an innings of two parts from India: the first 24 overs created 115 runs; the following 12 brought 110.

Shubhman Gill-Player of the Match and Series

Gill was chosen as the Player of the Match for his career-best 98* (98) as well as the Player of the Series for his astounding 205 runs.

Gill and Iyer added 86 for the second wicket in under ten overs, compensating for the sedate beginning after Dhawan chose to bat on winning the toss. Dhawan hushed up to begin the innings, his 58 falling off 74 balls on a sluggish pitch where he had tried attacking, yet often failed to time and place the ball.

ALSO READ: SL vs PAK, 2nd Test, Day 4: PAK needs 419 runs

Dhawan hit seven fours, while Gill likewise hit as numerous alongside two sixes. The first two overs after the downpour break saw 31 runs being plundered- including four fours and two sixes – as Gill and Iyer pulled, cut and drove for entertainment only. Their partnership had just barely begun before the rain got through.

Suryakumar fell for 8 after carving one four behind point only two overs before play stopped, with Gill having skipped from 51 off 65 balls at one phase, to an unbeaten, run-a-ball 98. He could regret passing up on a century, as he got just 13 off his last 14 balls – maybe only another ball would have been sufficient to get to significantly increase figures. Eventually, however, it didn’t have much effect on India’s fortunes.

KL Rahul is probably not going to make a trip toward the West Indies for the five-match T20I series, as previously expected. ESPNcricinfo comprehends that however the detachment period for Rahul, who had tested positive for Covid-19 last week, closes today, he has been prompted another week’s rest and recovery by the BCCI’s medical experts.

Rahul had been recuperating at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru since going through a sports hernia surgery in late June. He was perceived to be an uncertainty for the T20I leg of the West Indies visit regardless of whether he returned the two compulsory negative tests.

Contingent upon the result of his cardiovascular tests, Rahul might have been in consideration for the USA leg of the West Indies T20Is, on August 6 and 7. In any case, presently it seems sure that he will skip the tour out altogether and instead focus on the ODIs in Zimbabwe, which are a part of the planet Cup Super League. India were previously equipped for the 2023 ODI World Cup by prudence of being the hosts of the tournament.

The ODI series will finish in less than a week before the beginning of the 2022 Asia Cup, which will be played between August 27 and September 11 in the UAE.

Rahul hasn’t played any competitive cricket since the IPL 2022 Eliminator on May 25, when his team, Lucknow SuperGiants, lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore in Kolkata. He was consequently named captain for the five-match T20I series at home against South Africa, however got a right groin injury just before the primary match. That also precluded him for the England visit.

ALSO READ: SL vs PAK, 2nd Test, Day 3: SL leads by 323 runs

He went through the sports hernia surgery in June and was attempting to beat the clock to demonstrate his qualification for the West Indies T20Is. Presently, it seems he has to wait for some additional opportunity for his comeback.

India are as of now leading the three-match ODI series in the West Indies 2-0, with one match to go.