It felt odd, really. After five matches of saying “we’d like to bat, thanks”, India finally saw a bit of cloud over Kolkata and decided the other way round. Suryakumar Yadav called right and, without fuss, put West Indies in on a ground where defending totals can be a headache once dew turns up.
“We know what’s needed – four wins on the bounce,” the India captain reminded television afterwards. “Chasing looked the simpler route tonight.” Eden’s history backs him up: sides batting second here have won twice as often in night T20s, a stat Ricky Ponting on the host feed called “too big to ignore”.
India left the winning XI from Dharamsala untouched. That keeps Sanju Samson up top as wicketkeeper, and means no place yet for Rinku Singh, who re-joined the squad only yesterday after his father’s funeral. Hardik Pandya stays the extra seam-bowling finisher, with Axar Patel and Varun Chakravarthy providing the spin.
West Indies made a single, fairly logical switch. Out goes opener Brandon King; in comes left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein. “Three different angles of spin felt right for this surface,” Shai Hope explained. Alongside Hosein’s orthodox left-armers there’s Roston Chase’s off-breaks and Gudakesh Motie’s mix of fingerspin and the occasional wrist-flick. Ian Bishop on commentary called it “a nicely layered attack – something for every stage”.
The batting order shuffles a touch: Chase will accompany Hope at the top, leaving Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell and Sherfane Rutherford to tackle India’s quicks once the ball is older. Jasprit Bumrah versus Hetmyer is the duel numbers people keep circling – Hetmyer has managed just 24 off 28 from Bumrah in T20s, with two dismissals. “I’ll try to stay still and see it early,” he smiled yesterday, “there’s not much else you can do.”
Playing XIs
India: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy.
West Indies: Roston Chase, Shai Hope (capt, wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd, Jason Holder, Matthew Forde, Akeal Hosein, Gudakesh Motie, Shamar Joseph.
First ball is at 7 pm local. The forecast says the drizzle may clear; the numbers say chasing is king; the teams, for once, agree.
