T20 World Cup: Is India circumspect ahead of must-win West Indies game?

The only match India will play at the Eden Gardens in this ongoing ICC T20 World Cup is a must-win one against the West Indies – and this surely explains the buzz around Kolkata over the last few days. Now that the Net Run Rate (NRR) is out of the equation after South Africa swept aside the Caribbeans on Thursday, all the resurgent Men in Blue need to do is to keep their best foot forward on Sunday.

Unlike the 2023 ICC World Cup where the hosts were on a hot streak, there has been a bit of ebb and flow in India’s performance in this tournament so far – with their campaign picking up a second wind after a few anxious days following their 76-run defeat to the Proteas with a trademark win over Zimbabwe. However, the Shai Hope-led Caribbeans are a different kettle of fish compared to the ‘Chevrons’ and are likely to test the Indians by taking the pace off the ball.

 ‘’We need to focus on ourselves,’’ remarked India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate while replying to a question on firepower that the West Indies possessed in their outfit. Having said that, Ryan said: ‘’There are not too many teams in the world who can boast of having a Romario Shepherd batting at number nine,’’ adding that they would look to fight fire with fire in the crunch game.

The Zimbabwe game saw the defending champions resort to a bit of rejigging of their  batting line-up: somewhat enforced by the absence of finisher Rinku Singh, who had rushed back to be with his bereaved family at the death of his father. This prompted India to bring back the right handed Sanju Samson at the top of the order for a right-left combination, use Ishan Kishan at number three and push back Tilak Varma for a different role at number six.

The team management liked what they saw of Tilak, who had been struggling to get into his groove at number three in the previous matches. While India could switch on their usual template against a modest Zimbabwe attack against whom they were batting first, the number five or six position may give Tilak an opportunity to play the anchorman against more powerful opposition.

The Eden, meanwhile, had been a happy hunting ground especially for coach Darren Sammy, who was the captain when Carlos Brathwaite pulled off that famous last over heist against England in the 2016 final. When reminded of the obvious question, Sammy however said with a characteristic sense of humour: ‘’History does not often repeat itself.’’

It was quite a combative Sammy when it came to analysing his team’s chances ahead of the big game. ‘’All my soldiers are ready. We have eleven dangerous players, and India too have eleven danger players. So it would be a battle of two great teams,” said Sammy – who is no stranger to Indian conditions.

“The pitch looked a bit dry but we still have 26 hours to go. We cannot control the dew.” Sammy said.   

The head-to-head record in this format counts for little, but it heavily favours the hosts with India winning 19 of the 30 T20I meetings. The Windies have won 10 while one ended without a result. However, the trend reverses in T20 World Cups where the Caribbeans have won three of their four matches against the Men in Blue. India’s only win came in the 2014 edition where Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli engineered a seven-wicket win in Mirpur.

India, however, do hold a perfect four-on-four head-to-head record against the West Indies at the venue. And they will be more keen than ever to extend the record tomorrow - keeping the sense of occasion in mind.

Catch the match

Super Eight

India vs West Indies

Venue: Eden Gardens

Start: 7 pm