The ongoing T20I series between India and West Indies has been in some sort of trouble lately. With clouds of doubts looming over the Florida T20Is due to US visa clearance issues, the second and third T20I matches have come under heavy scanner. Before the start of the second T20I, both teams faced heavy logistical issues which impacted the match. As a result, the match which was scheduled to start at 8 pm IST was pushed by 3 hours and the first ball was bowled at 11 pm IST.
India suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of the West Indies in the second T20I and the series stands leveled with 1 victory each for both teams. Recently, India has altered their style of playing T20I cricket. Before this, the Indian team was heavily criticized for their old methods of playing T20I and how they approached it. India's debacle in the 2021 ICC T20I World Cup called for some significant changes. As of now, it seems that India is still coming to terms with playing this brand of cricket.
India's approach backfired on them in the 2nd T20I against two times champion West Indies, but as of now, it seems like they will carry this kind of gameplay in the T20I World Cup too which will be played in Australia later this year. Obed McCoy was the wrecker-in-chief for West Indies as he ended up picking 6 crucial Indian wickets which restricted the visitors to a low total. When West Indies came out to bat, India had no answers to Brandon King's masterclass. The hosts defeated India by a margin of 5 wickets. With three more matches to go, it will be interesting to see which way the scales tilt.
Cricket West Indies on August 1, 2022, released a statement that it was amicably decided between them and the BCCI that the start of the third T20I will be delayed by 90 minutes as both the teams are playing back-to-back matches and the players competing need ample time to recover.
When India comes out and takes the field against West Indies tonight, they will want to race ahead of the Caribbean team and tighten their grip on the series.
