So that's a wrap and India wins the first T20I by 5 wickets... All thanks to the efforts of Dinesh Karthik and Krunal Pandya...
Keemo Paul is back into the attack. Left and right combination for the Windies. Pandya hits a beautiful FOUR and then a couple gets the hosts to the victory. India wins the game by 5 wickets.
Pierre is back to business and an appeal from the bowler turned down by the umpire. Team Windies goes for a review which goes against them. Krunal Pandya angles it well to the fine leg for FOUR.
Fabian Allen, left-arm orthodox, comes into the attack. Krunal Pandya gets off the mark with a single. SIngles coming in quite easily for the Indians. Krunal Pandya ends the over with a FOUR.
Pierre is back to business. Strikes to the team with a wicket of Manish Pandey who get caught and bowled, Pandey OUT for 19. Looked quite good for the Indians. Krunal Pandya, left handed bat, comes to the crease
Captain Brathwaite is back is here to bowl his fourth over. Once again bowls tight but Manish Pandey does a fine job of sending the ball between extra cover and long-off for a FOUR. India needs 30 runs from 36 balls.
Pierre is back to bowl and gives away four runs from the over. A couple of dot balls given by the newbie.
Kieron Pollard is here to bowl. Dinesh Karthik finally breaks free with a FOUR to the leg side. Karthik once again times the ball well for a FOUR. Takes the pressure off from the Indians. Bad bowling from Pollard. Ends the over with a FOUR. India needs 41 runs 48 balls to win the match.
Khary Pierre is the new bowler introduced by the Windies. Quite a tight situation for the hosts now. The match getting on to an interesting juncture. the new bowler bringing out variations in the pace. Three runs off the over.
Brathwaite is back to bowl his third over. Bowls amazingly well for the first four balls. Just two runs coming off the over. Wonder if selectors kicking themselves for of axing Dhoni.
The three-match T20 series between India and West Indies, 2018 starts today at the Eden Gardens. With Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni’s absence, the Indian team will be led by Hitman Rohit Sharma. This is the first time that India is playing with MS Dhoni in the history of T20. The last time Sharma led the team, India won the Asia Cup 2018 in UAE. This will be his fourth series leading the Indian team. The BCCI yesterday announced the 12-member squad for the team which said Krunal Pandya could make an international debut against the Carlos Brathwaite led side. Rishabh Pant who has been in a blistering form is obviously playing the match. Pant has so far scored 1125 runs at a SR of 177.16. Rohit Sharma on the Verge of Surpassing Virat Kohli in This Record Against West Indies in 1st T20 on Sunday.
Talking about the Windies, they have never played a bilateral series against India prior to this. The team would be returning to the venue which brought them the T20 World Cup in 2016. Brathwaite definitely went on to become a household name after those four consecutive sixes. The Windies won the title against England by 4 wickets with two balls remaining. However, after winning the title, the team has played 10 T20 matches, out of which they lost five of them. The Windies will be missing the services of Andre Russell and Chris Gayle. India Face T20 Test Sans Mahendra Singh Dhoni The Colossus, West Indies Seek Redemption.
Now, today one can expect a high-scoring game and there is no forecast of the rains. However, the dew factor will come into play since the match will start at 7 PM. Out of the last five T20 matches played by the Indians, the home team has won four. On the other hand, the Windies have lost three and won only a couple of them.
Check out the squads for both the teams:
India: Rohit Sharma (C), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal
West Indies: Carlos Brathwaite (C), Fabian Allen, Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer, Keemo Paul, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Sherfane Rutherford, Oshane Thomas, Khary Pierre, Obed McCoy, Rovman Powell, Nicholas Pooran