Live Update: Can the West Indies find a way to stop the juggernaut India?
India are 42-9 at home since their last consecutive T20 defeat. Is at home. The three that matter: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah are all smiling after dismissing Pat Cummins. The three that matter: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah, all smiling after dismissing Pat Cummins, India vs Australia, World Cup, Chennai, October 8, 2023. The smile of a champion – Mohammed Siraj picked up five wickets in a ten-ball game, India vs Sri Lanka, Asia Cup Final, Colombo, September 17, 2023 Alyssa Healy poses with the Trophy after Australia retained the Ashes, England v Australia, 3rd ODI, Women’s Ashes, Taunton, July 18, 2023 Shane Warne bowls the first Test match ball under lights. Australia v New Zealand, 2nd Test, Day 1, at the WACA, Perth, Thursday 20 November 1997 A field view by Allan Border, Australia A v India A, unofficial 1st Test, Brisbane, Day 1, 6 July 2014 India’s easy win in the first T20I means the West Indies will have to do something they haven’t done since June 2022 if they are to win this series: beat India in back-to-back Series. T20I matches in India. Since that losing streak against South Africa, India’s record in India is 42-9.
It has been over seven years since India lost a T20I series in India. Having suffered series defeats in Ireland and England, India have quickly racked up a 10-match winning streak once again, threatening their own record of 12 for Full Member teams. Although they are missing three of their most irreplaceable players, namely Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Varun Chakravarthy, they have enough quality to dominate the West Indies in these conditions.
West Indies need the perfect game to beat India in India. The only time they managed to do this in 12 tries in T20Is was when they won the toss and chased on. Even if they get that wish, they will have to step out of their skin as they have neither wrist spin nor mystery spin nor express pace in their ranks to offer anything different to the Indian batting powerhouse.
India WWWWW (last five T20Is completed, most recent first) West Indies LWLWL Axar Patel celebrates after getting rid of Rovman Powell, India v West Indies, 1st T20I, Lucknow, October 6, 2026 Since the World Cup earlier this year, Axar Patel has been one of the best powerplay bowlers in the world, with eight wickets in 15 overs and an economy rate of 4.71. With India fielding their big guns in the shortest format, Axar was an absolute banker for India and often took on the responsibility of bowling two overs in the powerplay. In the first T20I, one of these two was a wicket maiden which also included a run-out.
During this tour, Shai Hope was a shining light for the West Indies. In the first game, he made no attempts to attack the four balls he faced in Axar’s power play. Maybe he wanted to leave the attack to his left partner Shimron Hetmyer, but he has the quality to beat Axar by playing him like an average point guard.
He may need to bring his experience from facing Axar in the Delhi Citals nets and be more proactive. Don’t expect any chance for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi at the beginning of the series. It was surprising that India did not play Prince Yadav, who returned from injury after an impressive tour of Ireland and England.
He could replace Mayank Yadav in the 11 wins in Lucknow. India (Probable XI): 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Sanju Samson (wk), 3 Ishan Kishan, 4 Shreyas Iyer (ct), 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Naman Dhir, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Prince Yadav, 11 Arshdeep Singh. The West Indies might be tempted to take on Amir Jangoo to citalize on his excellent form in the ODIs, but that would mean dropping Kamil Pooran, who has just made his debut.
So don’t expect any real changes in the eleven. West Indies (Probable XI): 1 Shai Hope (ct & wk), 2 Kamil Pooran, 3 Shimron Hetmyer, 4 Rovman Powell, 5 Sherfane Rutherford, 6 Romario Shepherd, 7 Roston Chase, 8 Shamar Springer, 9 Akeal Hosein, 10 Shamar Joseph, 11 Matthew Forde. Ranchi has not hosted a T20 party since January 2023, when New Zealand successfully defended 176 against India.
While this is certainly not an indication of the team winning the toss first, Ranchi doesn’t really have the reputation of being a high scoring place. In 10 night games here, the 200 mark was only exceeded once. However, night T20 tournaments are so rare in Ranchi that it is hard to say how the pitch will fare.
The teams will enjoy mild weather with a maximum temperature of 27 degrees Celsius and a few showers that are unlikely to delay play. Naman Dhir became only the second bowler in T20Is to score sixes and threes in an innings. Shreyas Iyer became the seventh Indian and the 36th man overall to score hundreds in all three formats of international cricket.
Axar Patel celebrates after getting rid of Rovman Powell, India vs West Indies, 1st T20I, Lucknow, October 6, 2026 Axar Patel celebrates after getting rid of Rovman Powell, India vs West Indies, 1st T20I, Lucknow, October 6, 2026 Axar Patel celebrates after getting rid of Rovman Powell, India vs West Indies, 1st T20I, Lucknow, October 6, 2026 A general view of the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, Punjab Kings vs Delhi Citals, IPL 2024, Mullanpur, March 23, 2024 IND vs WI 2026/27, IND vs WI 2nd T20I Match Preview – Can the West Indies find a way to become India’s heavyweight stop? IND vs WI 2026/27 Match Preview India vs West Indies: India are 42-9 at home since last consecutive T20I home defeat Pujara: ‘A lot of clarity in Iyer’s batting technique’ Morkel: Mayank and Prince ‘still learning the craft’ in small windows Naman Dhir bowler makes his mark with six overs and outs Hope: West Indies have to do Shreyas ‘more good than Doing bad things” Iyer rises to the top. 7 in ICC rankings after first T20I century Iyer: “If it’s your day, make sure you win the game for your team.” Sidharth Monga reported on
