Despite being World Champions, the performance of the West Indies team has been consistently low and that has raised many eyebrows as to what exactly is their future in the shortest format of the game.
With T20 World Cup just a few months away the team management is trying to make a good combination of young and experienced players who can help the side to defend the World Champions title at the mega event.
After losing to Afghanistan in the three-match T20I series at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, the Kieron Pollard-led side will next face the mighty Indian team captained by Virat Kohli. The upcoming series will be a great opportunity for Windies management to evaluate the potential of players in tough conditions.
Here’s the list of 4 West Indies players who could make an impact in the T20I series vs India:
Evin Lewis
Since Chris Gayle has opted himself out from the T20I series, all eyes would be on Evin Lewis. The Trinidadian cricketer has been impressive in the recent outings for his team. Apart from the ‘Universe Boss’, Lewis is the only other player to score the T20I centuries for West Indies.
The swashbuckling opener has played 26 T20 internationals and scored 753 runs with two hundreds and five fifties. Interestingly, both his tons have come against the Men in Blue. Lewis averages 48 against the Indian bowling attack so he will certainly be a crucial player to watch out for.
Sheldon Cottrell
Left-arm fast bowler Sheldon Cottrell has been quite successful against the right-handed batsmen as his ball comes in at a good pace and Team India has two world’s best batsmen in the form of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. The duo struggles against the incoming deliveries from left-arm pacers and Cottrell has the potential to do the damage. However, he will be playing in India for the first time.
Cottrell has played 19 T20Is so far and has taken 27 wickets with 4/28 being his best. He had a good run against the Men in Blue when the two sides met in August. In the three T20Is against India, he managed to take four wickets with an average of 17.75.
Kieron Pollard
Kieron Pollard, an all-time great T20 player, will be looking forward to the India series by carrying a new responsibility of leading the team from the front. The Trinidadian batsman doesn’t have a good average in T20Is but when it comes to T20s then he stands far ahead.
In T20s, Pollard is at the third spot of highest run-getters and has nearly 10000 runs with 48 half-centuries and one hundred at an incredible strike rate of 150. he has also claimed 270 wickets and features at number 13 in the list of top wicket-takers.
West Indies will rely on their captain heavily as the right-hander has deep knowledge and experience about the Indian conditions. The recent ODI wins against Afghanistan will keep him quite positive and confident to lead his team against India.
Kesrick Williams
Born in Spring Village, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Kesrick Williams may not be as famous as the above-mentioned stars but he certainly has all the skill and talent to go far in his career. In the recent T20I series against Afghanistan, Williams showed a glimpse of his potential.
In the three-match series, Williams took 8 wickets and within the lights of bowlers like Cottrell, Jason Holder, and the current skipper Pollard, he topped the table in the leading wicket-takers of the series. His medium pace can be tricky at times especially in sub-continent conditions.
In 21 T20Is, the right-armer has taken 38 wickets with 4/28 being his best. He also has an impressive average of 15.71 and will play a crucial role against the Indian team full of batting geniuses.
