India vs West Indies T20I Series Opener

India and West Indies will meet in the 1st T20I of the 5-match series on 6 October at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. The game starts at 7:00 PM IST. India come into the series after beating Pakistan by 19 runs in the Asian Games final. West Indies, meanwhile, will be looking to continue the momentum from their 2-1 series win over Sri Lanka. India have had the better record in the recent meetings, winning 3 of the last 5 T20Is between the 2 sides.

Ishan Kishan is likely to have an important role at the top of the order. He has 394 runs from his last 10 matches, averaging 49.25. Romario Shepherd has dismissed Kishan once in their previous meetings, though Kishan has still managed 20 runs from 10 balls against him. Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson give India plenty of firepower in the batting department. Axar Patel will also be someone to watch after taking 8 wickets in his last 7 matches at an economy rate of 7.13. West Indies will not be short of batting options either.

Shimron Hetmyer has been in decent touch, scoring 333 runs in his last 10 matches at an average of 37. Shai Hope has a good record against Axar Patel too. He has scored 36 runs from 25 balls against him without getting out. Shamar Joseph has been picking up wickets regularly and has 20 wickets from his last 10 matches. His economy rate in that period has been 8.62. Gudakesh Motie could come into the game if the Lucknow pitch starts helping the spinners.

Ekana has not always been an easy ground for batters. Out of the 9 T20Is played here, the team batting first has won 5. The average 1st innings score is 151, while it falls to 126 in the 2nd innings. That makes putting runs on the board a useful advantage. The weather forecast also has a small chance of rain at 15%, with humidity around 73% and temperatures between 22°C and 31°C.