India and the West Indies will meet at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida, to play the first of three T20 International matches at 8pm (IST) on Saturday. The match marks the beginning of India's tour of the West Indies, which will have three T20I, three ODI matches and two Tests.
Both India and the West Indies are playing their first international matches after the recent ODI World Cup and will be without key veterans—M.S. Dhoni and Chris Gayle. The West Indies will also be missing hard-hitting all-rounder Andre Russell, who experienced discomfort of his knees during a recent T20 tournament in Canada. Russell has been replaced by Jason Mohammed.
India have rested pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah for the limited overs league of the West Indies tour. Pace bowler Deepak Chahar has been included in the India side as is his cousin Rahul Chahar, a rare coincidence. If selected to play, Rahul, a legspinner, will be making his T20I debut. Deepak has already played a T20I and ODI for India before. The Indian batting has been strengthened by the return of opener Shikhar Dhawan, who was injured midway through the World Cup.
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The T20I series against the West Indies will also mark another occasion for Rishabh Pant to don the gloves of wicket-keeper in place of Dhoni. Captain Virat Kohli was quoted by ESPNCricinfo as saying, “It's a great opportunity for someone like Rishabh Pant to really play a lot of international cricket, show his credentials, really unleash his potential at this stage... We know how much ability he has and we all want him to become a consistent performer for the Indian cricket team.”
Rain had disrupted practice sessions for the match on Thursday and Friday, but thunderstorms generally happen in Florida in the afternoon, so disruption of the match is not expected. India and the West Indies play their second T20I match at the same venue on Sunday. The third T20I will be in Guyana on Tuesday.
