After the conclusion of the ODI series, WI vs IND will lock horns in a five-match T20I series starting from August 3. With the ODI World Cup just over two months away, this seems a little strange, but such has been the international schedule over the past couple of years
Coming back to the T20I series, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli continue to rest while Hardik Pandya will be leading India. Having said that some of the top T20 players will be in action over the course of next week or so. Some of them are even approaching major career milestones and here we list a few of them for the players from both teams.
Also Read: West Indies T20I Squad announced for India series
Approaching milestones for players during WI vs IND T20I series
Yuzvendra Chahal was benched for the entire ODI series but looks set to make it to the playing XI in T20Is. He has so far picked up 91 wickets in 75 T20Is at an average of 24.68. He is the highest wicket-taker for India in the men's T20Is and now is only nine wickets away from becoming the first-ever Indian bowler to complete 100 scalps in the format. Overall, he will become the 8th bowler in the world to breach the 100-wicket mark. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has the second-most wickets for an Indian in men's T20Is, with 90 scalps.
Sanju Samson might not have played a lot of T20 matches for India. But thanks to the Indian Premier League (IPL) and domestic T20 matches, the man has built a brilliant career for himself in the format. Overall, in T20 cricket, he has so far scored 5,979 runs in 241 matches at an average of 28.60 with 3 centuries and 38 fifties. He needs only 21 runs to complete 6,000 runs in T20 cricket.
Much like Samson, Ishan Kishan has also played a massive 167 matches in the T20 format overall. He has amassed 4,292 runs with three centuries and 24 half-centuries to his name. He has also hit 185 sixes so far and will need only 15 maximums in the five T20Is during WI vs IND to go past the 200 sixes mark.
Axar Patel is a utility T20 cricketer and the all-rounder has proved it time again. More than being a useful batter down the order, Axar’s stump-to-stump bowling has reaped him rich rewards in the shortest format so far 188 wickets in 220 T20 matches. He is only 12 scalps away from completing 200 wickets in T20 format.
Rovman Powell, the West Indies T20I skipper, will be eyeing to score at least 54 runs as soon as he can during the series. He has so far mustered 2,046 runs in 167 T20 matches in his career at a strike rate of 136.13. After scoring 54 runs, he will complete 3,000 runs in the shortest format of the game. Powell also needs only 28 runs to complete 1,000 runs in T20I cricket.
Nicholas Pooran is coming into this series on the back of a stunning show in the Major League Cricket (MLC). He helped MI New York side win the tournament with a swashbuckling 137* off just 55 balls in the final. Pooran is only 13 sixes from completing 100 maximums in T20I cricket. He has so far hit 87 sixes in 75 T20Is and looking at his current form, the target of 13 more sixes in the next five T20Is in WI vs IND doesn’t seem to be much for the left-hander.
Alzarri Joseph is another player who is a certainty in the playing XI for the first T20I. He is the closest to the milestone among all players needing only one wicket from completing 100 scalps in the T20 format overall. So far, he has picked up 99 wickets in 84 T20 matches at an average of 24.85 and thanks to his bowling ability, it is almost given that he will reach one of the major career milestones in T20 cricket in this series.
Brandon King and Roston Chase are not certainties in the playing XI looking at the squad. But they also have milestones in sight with King needing 196 runs to complete 1,000 runs in T20Is. On the other hand, Chase, the all-rounder, is only 78 runs away from breaching the 1,000-run mark in the shortest format overall.
