West Indies’ record may not have been good in ODIs, but in T20s, they have won both the previous series at home. First they defeated England 3-2 in the five-match series and won the three-match series 2-0 against Bangladesh in the same month. West Indies will certainly be eyeing to complete a hat-trick of series wins by beating India. On the other hand, India has won all the series played after the T20 World Cup last year.
Covering the cricket activities of the week, accept Sanjay Banerjee’s salutations in this podcast. Listen from the heart…
Under the captaincy of Shikhar Dhawan, India has raised a mountain of expectations by winning the three-match series against the West Indies one-sided. After winning this series by India 3-0, it has been proved again that even a second-class team India can beat anyone. Indian team captain Rohit Sharma is returning in the five-match T20 series starting from today. Also, Rishabh Pant and Ravichandran Ashwin have also returned, while Shikhar Dhawan will return to India.
From India’s point of view, now it will be interesting to see who starts the Indian innings. Lokesh Rahul will not join the team due to being unfit, while Ishan Kishan did not get a chance in the ODI series. Rohit had consistently kept Ishan Kishan as an opener in the last few matches. Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill gave a great start to the Indian team in ODIs, so there will be pressure on the Indian opening pair to start well in T20 as well. There is no Shubman Gill in this team anyway.
India has registered four consecutive wins in the last five T20 matches against the West Indies. Now is the time to break this chain in front of the host country. Anyway, three consecutive seasons in ODIs have lost 3-0 to hosts Pakistan, Bangladesh and India. However, captain Nicholas Pooran is in form and India need to crack down on the sub. The first match of the T20 series will be played tonight at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad. After this, the next two matches will be held in St. Kitts on August 1 and 2. Whereas the last two T20 matches will be played on August 6 and 7 in Florida city of America.
The West Indies team is considered to be an expert in T20 cricket, but it is also true that the Caribbean team, which won the T20 World Cup twice, has been struggling for the time being. When India last toured the West Indies in 2016-17, it had to face defeat in the only match. But after that all the four series held in India were named after Team India. In the Indian team, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya will be present in the middle order, if no more experiments are done then only Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan will open the innings.
West Indies’ record may not have been good in ODIs, but in T20s, they have won both the previous series at home. First they defeated England 3-2 in the five-match series and won the three-match Srikhala 2-0 against Bangladesh in the same month. West Indies will certainly be eyeing to complete a hat-trick of series wins by beating India. On the other hand, India has won all the series played after the T20 World Cup last year.
India’s record was also set in the ODI series, India won the three-match series against West Indies and made a record of 12 consecutive victories against any one team and broke Pakistan’s record of 11 consecutive victories, which surpassed Zimbabwe’s. Against this record was made between 1996 and 2021. West Indies, on the other hand, have lost nine consecutive ODIs in the last two months. Although she has suffered 11 more consecutive defeats in 2005 as well.
However, Shubman Gill strengthened his place in Team India by performing brilliantly in the ODI series. Gill scored half-centuries in two out of three matches. In the third ODI, he was also close to a century, but in the middle of his first century, rain came out as a villain.
It seems that India has won the one-sided series, but the way West Indies performed in the first two ODIs, the Indian team’s breath was stuck. In the first ODI, India won the match by only three runs, while in the second, they won by two wickets in the very last over. In both these matches, both the teams had scored more than 300 runs. Whereas in the third match the day after night, India won by 119 runs in the DLS method.
Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill’s opening partnership contributed significantly to the series win for India. The partnership of 119 runs in the first match, 48 in the second and 113 runs in the third ODI is enough to increase the total of any team. Nevertheless, apart from Shikhar and Gill, the responsibility of Indian batting remained on Shreyas Iyer. All three scored two half-centuries each. Dhawan too missed out on scoring a century by getting out for 97 in a match. But in the second match, the half-centuries of Axar Patel and Sanju Samson should not be forgotten, which turned India from defeat to victory. In contrast, Suryakumar Yadav could not score much in all three matches.
In bowling, Siraj impressed except in the second match. Shardul Thakur always managed to do well for his side in the ODI series as well. Here Yuzvendra Chahal has to be praised, who broke the back of the hosts by taking four wickets in the third match.
Some good innings were seen from West Indies in the ODI series. Kyle Meyers, Brendan King and Nicholas Pooran scored half-centuries while vice-captain Shai Hope scored a century.
Here, the Asia Cup has been shifted from Sri Lanka to UAE. This was done in view of the internal situation in Sri Lanka. On the other hand, the performance of Indian players was a bit weak in the latest round of County Championship in England that ended yesterday. Cheteshwar Pujara, who has been a strong performer with the bat so far, captained Sussex for the second successive match, but could only manage 49 runs in the first innings against Nottinghamshire.
Similarly, Umesh Yadav, who failed in the first match, could take only one wicket against Durham while playing for Middlesex.
Washington Sundar playing for Lancashire and Navdeep Saini representing Kent were face to face. Where Washington could not take wickets in the first innings, only 6 and 10 runs came from his bat. Whereas Navdeep Saini bowled well in the second match after the first match. He took three wickets in the first innings and one wicket in the second innings.
Another Indian player, Krunal Pandya, after becoming a father recently, is now going to join the Warwickshire team.
And finally the Commonwealth Games. Where today India and Australia are making their debut in women’s cricket. Women’s cricket has been included in these sports for the first time. The good thing is that all the eight participating countries have sent their strong teams. In Group A, the Indian women’s team is to play Australia on Sunday followed by Pakistan and Barbados on August 3. Obviously, the road will not be easy for India, as hosts England, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka are also in the second group.
Apart from captain Harmanpreet Kaur, players like vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, Shefali Verma, Jemima Rodriguez and Deepti Sharma are present in the Indian team. Whereas in addition to captain Mag Lenning, the Australian women’s team includes veteran players like Rachel Haynes, Alyssa Perry, Alyssa Healy, Ashley Gardner, Elana King and Tahila McGrath. In such a situation, the opening match is sure to be exciting.
These matches to be held in Birmingham have the status of International T20. In the last five matches that India and Australia have played, Australia has won three, while one did not result. India’s last victory was in February 2020.
Meanwhile S. Meghna has recovered from Kovid and joined the Indian team while Pooja Vastrakar will still be quarantined at least till tomorrow. Well, there is good news for Pooja Vastrakar that she has been included in the team for the next season of Australian Women’s Big Bash by Brisbane Heat.
So it was, Suno Dil Se, a podcast based on the weeklong cricket bustle. Allow Sanjay Banerjee till next week. Hello
