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Best West Indies batsmen: Top three West Indian batsmen to watch out for in first T20I vs India

Dixit Bhargav
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Best West Indies batsmen: The Sportsrush present before you names of three West Indies batsmen who might trouble the Indian bowlers tonight.

The first T20I of the ongoing India’s tour of West Indies is only a few hours away from us. Being played in Lauderhill, Florida, the contest is likely to entice a new set of audiences for the game of cricket. The flat batting wicket and the small size of the ground should witness batsmen dominating the scheme of things from the word go.

The match will commence the sport for both the teams post the recently concluded ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. With a T20 World Cup set to be played next year, both teams would be looking to put their best foot forward in this match.

There is no hiding to the fact that the hosts will be banking on their batting unit for it has been their stronger division in the format. Despite their recent results not going in their favour, the West Indies batting unit has it in it to not just entertain the crows but register a match-winning performance.

The presence of T20 superstars like Chris Gayle and Andre Russell would have bolstered their team but West Indies still are a formidable side on paper. Against an unsettled and inexperienced Indian bowling lineup, their batsmen would be backing themselves to post an impressive total.

Best West Indies batsmen to watch out for tonight

1) Evin Lewis – A T20I strike rate of 163.75 in 20 matches give the early impression that West Indies opening batsman Evin Lewis encompasses the basic skill to dominate in this format. Lewis might not have played many T20Is in his three-year old career but him scoring two centuries and four half-centuries in 20 innings speak highly about his calibre.

Another reason behind picking him in this list is his record against India. In the three T20Is which Lewis has played against India, he has scored 232 runs at an average of 116 and a strike rate of 198.29 including a couple of centuries. While both the centuries were scored in West Indies, the first one was scored at Lauderhill.

The presence of all-rounders like Krunal Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja in the Indian team means that the visitors will take the field with at least two left-arm spinners. If they also include debutant Rahul Chahar, make it three bowlers who will bring the ball into the left-hand batsman. In such a situation, Lewis’ prospects of posting a big score will increase.

2) Shimron Hetmyer – Much like Lewis, Shimron Hetmyer will also eye the Indian spinners who will turn the ball into him. Expected to bat in the Top Four for West Indies, Hetmyer will have enough balls to play and create an impact in the first T20I.

A quintessential player of the shortest format, Hetmyer’s T20I record isn’t worth talking about. In 11 T20Is, the 22-year old batsman has scored 109 runs at an average of 12.11 and a strike rate of 108.23. Barring a maiden half-century in the last match of his debut Indian Premier League season, Hetmyer looked clueless in the biggest T20 league earlier this year.

Despite the aforementioned about the southpaw, having watched him bat in ODIs and going by some of his brisk Test innings, one can say with confidence that Hetmyer has the expertise to be a fierce competitor in T20s as well. Talking about his ODI record against India, Hetmyer has scored 277 runs in six ODIs at an average of 46.16 and a strike rate of 129.43 including a century and half-century each.

3) Kieron Pollard – It comes as a source of amazement that senior West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard will be playing only his second T20I series since July 2017. Given the T20 legend that he is, Pollard playing only 59 T20Is in his 11-year long career is astonishing.

However, now when he is in the West Indies squad, let us focus on what he brings to the table. First of all, the 32-year old all-rounder will bring an experience of 475 T20s (most for any cricketer) alongside him. Having scored 9,316 runs at an average of 30.05 and a strike rate of 150.47 including a century and 46 half-centuries, Pollard is the third-highest run-scorer in the format.

Slated to bat in the middle-order, Pollard is likely to play the role of a finisher for West Indies. Having successfully finished matches for several T20 leagues over the years, West Indies will be banking on Pollard for replicate a similar performance for them tonight and throughout the series.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Dixit Bhargav

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Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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