New Delhi:
The Test series was totally dominated by India. In the ODIs, the West Indies showed some spark and put up a fight but Virat Kohli, on top of his game, inspired his team to a 3-1 series win. In Twenty20s, it was expected that the West Indies would be the dominators, considering that they held a 5-2 advantage over India heading into this series.
However, two matches later, West Indies are on the brink of a 3-0 capitulation in what was considered their best chance to break their drought in India. Kolkata showed the one-sided nature of the contest while in Lucknow, they were blown away by a hurricane called Rohit Sharma as he plundered a record fourth century in the format.
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Now, after the five-day break due to the Diwali celebrations, the West Indies end their tour with a final Twenty20 International at the Chepauk stadium in Chennai.
Kuldeep the bogey
In both losses, Kuldeep Yadav has been the pivotal factor for the West Indies. He has picked up five wickets in two games and Denesh Ramdin has admitted that the Windies have struggled to pick Kuldeep in this series.
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“Guys haven't been able to pick him, and basically he was been one of the threats in the middle overs and unfortunately we couldn't push on. We played our first game at Eden Gardens, where we were expecting to do well. But we didn't adapt as well as we should. We didn't string any partnerships either. T20 banks on momentum and partnerships, and we couldn't do that,” Ramdin rued.
In addition to Kuldeep, Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have been sensational. However, for the Chennai game, India are resting both Kuldeep and Bumrah. This could give either Washington Sundar or Shahbaz Nadeem the chance. Khaleel Ahmed has been impressive with his pace and he will want to sustain the momentum ahead of the tour to Australia.
The batting has had fewer worries. Rohit continues to score centuries for fun but India will be concerned about Shikhar Dhawan’s form, who has endured a lean patch in ODIs as well. In the first game, the middle order did not fire and it needed a solid effort from Krunal Pandya and Dinesh Karthik to help them get over the line.
West Indies in disarray
Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer, the two stars in the ODI series, have struggled in the Twenty20s. The absence of big names like Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine is telling when it comes to the batting, having managed scores of 109 and 124 only.
The bowling has impressed in patches, primarily thanks to Oshane Thomas. However, there has been no back-up from the rest of the bowlers. West Indies will be determined to end the tour on a high. This will be the second Twenty20 International in Chennai, with India having lost the first game in 2012 against New Zealand by one run.
