Hardik Pandya is not someone who makes much of an effort to hide his emotions. The way he held his head back and laughed nervously after losing the toss against West Indies in the 4th T20I at Lauderhill in Florida was the latest proof of that. There were no prizes to guess that Hardik desperately wanted to win the toss and bat first in India’s must-win game. But aren’t teams happier chasing in T20Is? Yes, on most occasions but perhaps not at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground.
In the 14 T20Is that have been played at this ground, the team batting first has won 11 times while targets have been chased successfully only twice with one being a no-result. It is a high-scoring venue but it gets slower as the game progresses with the spinners coming into play in the second half.
Hardik was well aware of this fact and he hung his head back as soon as the coin landed in West Indies’ favour. Rovman Powell, as expected, had no doubts in opting to bat first. “We are gonna bat first, looks a very good surface, we want to put up some runs on the board and try to defend it. I think it is an opportunity for us to win a series against a big team like India and the boys are excited about it,” he said.
West Indies made three changes to their XI that lost in the previous match in Guyana. Jason Holder, Shai Hope, and Odean Smith came in for Johnson Charles, Roston Chase and Alzarri Joseph.
India, on the other hand, did not make any changes to their XI. “We would have batted first as well, I don’t think much will change. I think the boys turned up very well, they were excited and at the same time, they realized that they have to show some more hunger as well. Everyone chipped in, the bowlers did the job and then Tilak and Surya came in and closed the game with the bat. Yeah, same team. Our spinners have that kind of wicket-taking knack, they are aggressive with their intent as well, which I like. For us, we keep things simple, and we don’t let the intensity drop,” Hardik said.
Hardik, however, should not be too disappointed as the last team to chase and win at this venue was India four years ago. India have no option but to go all out and this match. If they lose, West Indies will register their first series win against India in any format since 2006.
West Indies Playing XI: Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Shai Hope, Nicholas Pooran(w), Rovman Powell(c), Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Akeal Hosein, Obed McCoy
India Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Sanju Samson(w), Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mukesh Kumar
