Venue: Central Broward Regional Park, Lauderhill, Florida | Date & Time: 27 August at 1700 (GST)
There are times in sport that make you rub your in disbelief at what is unfolding in front of you. Sometimes it’s the brilliance of one player or an entire team clicking into gear, but sometimes it’s just the setting that blurs your sense of reality.
Whether through geography, extreme weather, the playing surface or a storied past, sporting venues play a big part in capturing the essence of the drama it hosts.
On 27 August, India will play the West Indies in the United States – a country with a large expat community of cricket enthusiasts but no proud traditions of its own.
Six matches from the 2016 Caribbean Premier League were played at this $10 million venue. The ground in Florida has hosted internationals before in the shape of four T20I games – two between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in 2010 and a further two between New Zealand and the West Indies in 2012.
Now, America prepares for another pair of T20I games involving two sides of rather contrasting fortunes, Saturday’s game their first meeting in limited-overs cricket since the infamous World T20 semi-final in Mumbai back in March.
West Indies are the current World T20 champions
BIG PICTURE
Vengeance will dominate India’s plan of attack Stateside as they seek to erase the hurt of five months ago after losing to West Indies in the semi-finals of the World T20 on home soil.
But India wrapped up a comfortable 0-2 win in the recently concluded Test series as the West Indies floundered. The two T20Is between the sides are to be played on successive days (27 and 28 August), and with fatigue likely to be a factor in the second game, winning the first may prove significant.
Limited-overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is back to lead the side when the teams take to the field in Florida. They have been highly successful in T20Is recently, defeating Sri Lanka and Australia and also winning the Asia Cup in Bangladesh.
India last played limited-overs cricket in Zimbabwe in June, and although they claimed the ODI series 0-3 and the T20Is 1-2, it was a heavily changed side that featured a number of young and/or inexperienced players against the minnows.
This time, however, the senior players are back and India are looking at full strength. Most of the players from the Test squad have been retained for the T20Is, captain Dhoni and Jasprit Bumrah constituting the new additions.
It is easy to forget that the West Indies are reigning champions of the game’s shortest format. Conflict with the board has led to disarray within the squad, perhaps best explained by the selection of the new captain for T20Is.
He may have led the West Indies to not one but two World T20 triumphs but Darren Sammy was deemed surplus to requirements, sacked and omitted from the 13-man squad for this series. In the 2016 World T20 final in Kolkata, he preceded his successor in the batting order as Carlos Brathwaite wrote his name in history by smashing four consecutive sixes off Ben Stokes to win his team their second World T20 title.
The 28-year-old may be captain of the West Indies now, but he has the sum total of 25 international games behind him – 3 Tests, 14 ODIs and 8 T20s. Some 15,000 people are expected to attend, and Brathwaite’s baptism of fire will be complete in front of a large crowd in an otherwise cricket-phobic nation.
Luckily, he has plenty of support to mitigate his own inexperience. The West Indies reached the final of an ODI tri-series also involving Australia and South Africa in June, where they succumbed to the Aussies by 58 runs. Two men who did not feature in the World T20 campaign, but were successful in this tri-series, have been included in the T20 squad as well.
Sunil Narine and Kieron Pollard are back in the team, and the West Indies’ credentials are immediately stiffened. Besides them, many stars from the IPL and the World T20 will also feature – veterans of countless limited-overs internationals and veritable specialists of that form of the game. Chris Gayle, Lendl Simmons, Andre Russell and Dwayne Bravo are among them.
From the Test team, captain Jason Holder and Marlon Samuels remain, while Denesh Ramdin remains relegated to the sidelines, and Sulieman Benn and Jerome Taylor have been left out from previous squads.
KEY BATTLES
Ashwin will be key for Dhoni’s men
Ravichandran Ashwin vs West Indies top-order: Having performed so admirably in the Test series, collecting 17 wickets at 23.17 with a wicket every 46.2 balls, Ravichandran Ashwin now faces the task of translating his match-winning performances in the longest format to success in the shortest. Perhaps India’s most dependable bowler, Ashwin is back in tandem with his IPL and limited-overs captain Dhoni which augurs well, but the spinner faces a completely different batting line-up with a new array of styles to conquer. Containing an explosive West Indies top-order could prove to be just as valuable as taking wickets, and it will be fascinating to see if Ashwin can fluently change gears.
Carlos Brathwaite vs MS Dhoni: They are seven years apart in age, but 70 T20s apart in captaincy experience. Brathwaite has, in all his lack of experience, the sternest task ahead of him – pitting his wits against the wiliest of all customers in cricket. He may be the captain, but Brathwaite is one of the lesser lights in a team packed with superstars and formidable personalities. It is undeniable that he will be tested to his limit by his opposing number. Tactical decisions, control over teammates, psychological warfare, inspired brainwaves – this promises to be an awe-inspiring battle of two minds; one new to the business and the other one of the most seasoned veterans out there.
WATCH OUT FOR
Virat Kohli: How much does it hurt to see your effort go in vain in a crunch game? Virat Kohli’s 89 off 47 deliveries was the Mumbai semi-final’s highest score, and yet it was Simmons who walked home with the man-of-the-match award. Kohli has gained some measure of revenge by winning the Test series as captain, but to competitive cricketers like him, this constitutes only half the job. The pain of defeat only serves to incite his aggression further. Expect him to play a key role batting at number three, and a customary hail of sixes.
TEAMS
The West Indies, despite their flaws, have made a habit of triumphing in adversity. A fairly set batting line-up is unlikely to change, although there will be some changes lower down the order and it remains to be seen whether captaincy affects Brathwaite’s position in it. Samuel Badree is back in the side, and his accurate and stingy bowling could prove quietly effective.
Johnson Charles, Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Andre Russell, Kieron Pollard, Carlos Brathwaite, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Fletcher (wk), Samuel Badree, Sunil Narine
Suresh Raina, Hardik Pandya, Ashish Nehra and Manish Pandey are the members of the semi-final team not present in the squad for the games on the weekend. Ajinkya Rahane opened in that game, and one can expect Rohit Sharma to be promoted to the top of the order now. Dhoni will take over the gloves and his protege, the young fast bowler Bumrah, could prove crucial at the death.
Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Lokesh Rahul, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (wk), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah
