T20 series preview: West Indies v India

The two-match Twenty20 series between the West Indies and India is a tough one to predict, because there are many 'firsts' for the sides as they clash in the USA.

Number one: India have never played an international in the USA. Then, the sides have never played a T20 series against each other, and have only met once outside the structure of a World Twenty20 tournament.

They've only met five times in this format, with the Windies winning three of those, including the semi-final at the WT20 this year. They went on to win the title for a second time.

Another first is the captaincy of Carlos Brathwaite, who takes charge in his maiden series after being given the role instead of Darren Sammy. The veteran skipper was dropped from the side completely, leaving Brathwaite in charge of a star-studded side.

Chris Gayle is back in action after missing the Tests, as are Dwayne Bravo and Andre Russell, who are considered the premier T20 players in the world. Then you have Marlon Samuels, Sam Badree, and Sunil Narine adding to the star power.

India are no slouches in the format, to be fair, with their vast IPL experience likely coming to the fore. They also know the Windies players really well because of that, despite a lack of international meetings.

MS Dhoni is back to lead the side, given he's retired from Tests, while Test captain Virat Kohli will provide the fire power in the top order. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan will also be big threats.

It will probably come down to who has the best spinners, as T20s do tend to do these days, so it'll be Narine and Badree vs Ashwin and Mishra. A one all series draw, anyone?

Last Five Head-To-Head Results

2016 WT20 semi-final: West Indies won by 7 wickets in Mumbai
2014 WT20 group: India won by 7 wickets in Dhaka
2011 only T20: India won by 16 runs in Port of Spain
2010 WT20 group: West Indies won by 14 runs in Bridgetown
2009 WT20 group: West Indies won by 7 wickets at Lord's

Squads

West Indies: Andre Fletcher, Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite (capt), Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Evin Lewis, Jason Holder, Johnson Charles, Kieron Pollard, Lendl Simmons, Marlon Samuels, Samuel Badree, Sunil Narine

India: MS Dhoni, Ravi Ashwin, Stuart Binny, Jasprit Bumrah, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravi Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav

Fixtures

First T20: 27 August at Lauderhill
Second T20: 28 August at Lauderhill

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