Match details
Series/tournament name: West Indies vs India
Venue: North Sound, Antigua
Date: 22 August, 2019
Time: 7PM IST
Preview:
After the limited-overs leg, India take on West Indies in a two-match Test series, the first of which is at Antigua. The match signifies the beginning of the World Test Championship for either side and 120 points are at stake in the series. India have a full-strength Test squad at their disposal and will be relying on their seam attack to counter West Indies' own battery of pacers on the changing wickets in the Caribbean. West Indies are no longer mere pushovers at home in Tests and have a series win against England last to showcase their strength at home.
Weather report:
Humidity is expected to be high on days one and two of the Test match and the temperature could be just less than 30°C. There is rain expected on day four of the Test match but otherwise the forecast is clear.
Pitch report:
The pitch has progressively gotten better for batting over the last decade. Only seven Test matches have been played here with the team fielding first winning losing just once. The last Test here was between England and West Indies where first innings batting was hard work.
Injuries:
None
Probable Playing XI:
India:
India are likely to stick to a five bowler pattern with Ravichandran Ashwin as no. 7. Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami will be the pacers in all likelihood with Ravindra
Match details
Series/tournament name: West Indies vs India
Venue: North Sound, Antigua
Date: 22 August, 2019
Time: 7PM IST
Preview:
After the limited-overs leg, India take on West Indies in a two-match Test series, the first of which is at Antigua. The match signifies the beginning of the World Test Championship for either side and 120 points are at stake in the series. India have a full-strength Test squad at their disposal and will be relying on their seam attack to counter West Indies' own battery of pacers on the changing wickets in the Caribbean. West Indies are no longer mere pushovers at home in Tests and have a series win against England last to showcase their strength at home.
Weather report:
Humidity is expected to be high on days one and two of the Test match and the temperature could be just less than 30°C. There is rain expected on day four of the Test match but otherwise the forecast is clear.
Pitch report:
The pitch has progressively gotten better for batting over the last decade. Only seven Test matches have been played here with the team fielding first winning losing just once. The last Test here was between England and West Indies where first innings batting was hard work.
Injuries:
None
Probable Playing XI:
India:
India are likely to stick to a five bowler pattern with Ravichandran Ashwin as no. 7. Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami will be the pacers in all likelihood with Ravindra Jadeja as second spinner. The middle-order could see a couple of confusing decisions with space for only one of Rahane or Rohit and one of Pant or Saha.
Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami
West Indies
Rakheem Cornwall could make a Test debut while the pace attack will likely have Shannon Gabriel, Kemar Roach and Jason Holder. Kraigg Brathwaite could continue to open with John Campbell. If Cornwall plays, there may be no room for Shamarh Brooks or Keemo Paul.
Kraigg Brathwaite, John Campbell, Darren Bravo, Shai Hope, Shimron Hetmyer, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich (WK), Rakheem Cornwall, Jason Holder ©, Shannon Gabriel, Kemar Roach
Top picks:
Wicket-keeper: Shane Dowrich (8.5 credits)
An underrated batsman and keeper, Dowrich has been an influential presence in the lower middle-order for West Indies. Adept against pace and spin, Dowrich could be a difficult batsman to remove for India.
Batsman: Cheteshwar Pujara (10.5 credits)
Pujara will be fresh after an extended break and his resilience and determination would be a handful on the Caribbean wickets. Expect Pujara to make a big impact in the series.
All-rounder: Jason Holder (9 credits)
Behind Gabriel and Roach, Holder has often gone underrated but the skipper is a massive presence in West Indies in particular with the ball. Expect him to trouble some of India's top-order batsmen.
Bowler: Jasprit Bumrah (9.5 credits)
Bumrah is just one shy of taking 50 Test wickets and given his recent form against the top batsmen from South Africa, Australia and England, Bumrah could prove to be too hot to handle for the Windies this series.
Captaincy options: Cheteshwar Pujara, Jasprit Bumrah, Jason Holder
Dream11 team:
Disclaimer: The views expressed here are of the author and is not a reflection of the actual points you might earn.
