Chris Gayle is among the most destructive batsmen in this, or any, format. Dwayne Bravo is every captain’s dream, an all-round package worth his own only with the bat, only with the ball and, most likely, only on the field as well. Andre Russell is a tremendous athlete, frenetic with the bat and furious with the ball. Samuel Badree, the rolling legspinner, is the No. 1 Twenty20 International bowler. Marlon Samuels is a classical batsman capable, if the mood so seizes him, of going from careful accumulation to supersonic jet in less time than it takes to bat an eyelid. And just to put things in perspective, Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine are not even here.
This West Indian T20 unit is awe-inspiring, muscular if occasionally one-dimensional batting – why run when I can hit boundaries? – married to a wonderful amalgam of pace and spin, and an athleticism that comes naturally but that has also been honed by hours of practice.
India must reconcile to life without Yuvraj for the rest of their campaign – which could end on Thursday or extend to Sunday’s title clash at the Eden Gardens. The once-mercurial left-hand batsman whose role has since been redefined by the passage of time, a plethora of injuries and the infusion of new blood, was ruled out of the tournament on Wednesday, forcing Mahendra Singh Dhoni to break from the pattern of continuity that India has fallen into since the three-match T20I series in Australia in late January.
Manish Pandey has been drafted into the squad as Yuvraj’s replacement. He should also be the logical choice as Yuvraj’s replacement in the playing XI too, despite the long-standing presence in the squad of Ajinkya Rahane and Pawan Negi, whose all-round skills offer an additional bowling option, but that might be self-defeating, considering how the top order, Kohli apart, has been misfiring.
Two former champions, two crack T20 sides, two teams that covet the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for the same, and different, reasons. East v West. What does Thursday night have in store?
Teams
India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt, wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashish Nehra, Ajinkya Rahane, Pawan Negi, Harbhajan Singh, Mohammed Shami.
West Indies: Chris Gayle, Lendl Simmons, Johnson Charles, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Andre Russell, Darren Sammy (capt), Carlos Brathwaite, Samuel Badree, Sulieman Benn, Evin Lewis, Jason Holder, Ashley Nurse, Jerome Taylor.
