Internet Desk: India skipper Virat Kohli might open for the side when India will face West Indies in the single T-20I tomorrow. The Men in Blue will try to end their Caribbean tour on a high note despite the return of West Indian power house Chris Gayle to the team.
Despite the presence of Gayle, the visitors are the firm favourites to win the match after winning the five-match ODI series 3-1 couple of days back.
Gayle will wear his home jersey after long 15 months. It will be a great chance for the Jamaican maestro to cement his place in the limited overs side.
The Windies are the current world champions in T-20 and they have some match winners like Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Carlos Brathwaite, Sunil Narine and Samuel Badree in this squad who was the part of World T-20 winning team in India.
The change in format may bring about some strategic change in the playing XI with Kohli expected to open the innings. Kohli has opened a lot for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL and also occasionally for India when Rohit Sharma has not been around.
While Ajinkya Rahane has had a fantastic ODI series with close to 350 runs including a century and three half-tons, Kohli opening the innings with Shikhar Dhawan looks more imminent considering the change in format.
The young Rishabh Pant could finally get his chance on the tour. Pant was a part of the playing XI that last played a T20 match against England in Bengaluru, earlier this year.
The Indian team management is aiming to groom Pant as the future limited-overs gloves-man and that’s the reason he may get his chance.
Kuldeep Yadav, who has been a successful T20 bowler for Kolkata Knight Riders, may also make his T20 International debut after an impressive series in which he picked up eight wickets.
IPL’s highest wicket-taker, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, after some well-earned rest, will be leading the pace attack alongside Umesh Yadav.
Squad
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Yuvraj Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Dinesh Karthik, Mohammed Shami.
West Indies: Carlos Brathwaite (capt), Samuel Badree, Ronsford Beaton, Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Jason Mohammed, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Rovman Powell, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Chadwick Walton (wk), Kesrick Williams.