India’s last assignment of the year will be the home series against West Indies that gets underway on Friday in Hyderabad. Virat Kohli’s T20I squad kick things off with the three-match series before the ODI series gets underway on 15 December.
Shikhar Dhawan who owns a handful of records against the visiting team was forced to pull out of the series due to an injury and has been replaced by Sanju Samson who will be looking to get some game time after warming the bench during the Bangladesh T20Is.
The skipper himself is also returning after a short break, having rested from the T20 series win against Bangladesh.
On the bowling front, there are several notable comebacks with the likes of Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar returning to the side's T20 setup.
Here’s a look at some records held by both the teams in series past:
Team Stats
- India enjoy a better success percentage (61.53) as they have won eight and lost five out of 14 T20Is contested vs West Indies (no-result one). In comparison, West Indies enjoy a success percentage of 38.46.
India’s overall success percentage in T20Is is 63.75 as compared to West Indies’ 45.98.
- West Indies' narrowest win by one run was recorded against India at Lauderhill on August 27, 2016.
- India, by winning the first two T20Is against the West Indies, both at Lauderhill on August 3 and 4, 2019 and the third at Providence Stadium, Guyana on August 6, had achieved a rare feat. For the first time, they had made a clean sweep against a team at home and away by a 3-0 margin in T20Is - their previous clean sweep against them was in India in 2018-19.
- In all, India have made a clean sweep by such a margin (3-0) four times - the first two being against Australia in Australia in 2015-16 and against Sri Lanka in India in 2017-18.
Indian Players’ Stats
- Shikhar Dhawan and Rishabh Pant were involved in a 130-run stand for the third wicket vs West Indies at Chennai on November 11, 2018 to ensure a six-wicket win. The said stand remains India's highest for any wicket against any opponent while chasing in T20Is.
- Shikhar Dhawan's magnificent 92 off 62 balls vs West Indies at Chennai on November 11 2018 is his highest score in T20Is, bettering the 90 vs Sri Lanka at Colombo (RPS) on March 6, 2018. He is one of the three batsmen to register two scores in the nervous nineties in T20Is - the first two being England's Alex Hales and West Indian Chris Gayle.
- Rishabh Pant's first fifty (58 off 38 balls vs West Indies at Chennai on November 11, 2018) in T20Is was scored as a batsman when he was 21 years and 38 days to become the second-youngest Indian player to post a fifty in T20Is. Rohit Sharma had posted a fifty at the age of 20 years and 143 days vs South Africa in the 2007 World Twenty20 at Durban on September 20.
With his career-best unbeaten 65 at Providence on August 6, 2019, Pant became the first Indian wicketkeeper to post a fifty vs West Indies in T20Is.
- Two Indian batsmen - Rohit Sharma (111 not out at Lucknow on November 6, 2018) and Lokesh Rahul (110 not out at Lauderhill on August 27, 2016) - have posted one hundred each vs West Indies in T20Is.
- Rohit Sharma, with seven catches in twelve matches, is the top fielder in T20Is involving India and West Indies.
West Indies’ Stats
- Carlos Brathwaite, with nine matches as captain, holds a record for leading in most matches involving India and West Indies. Under his captaincy, West Indies won 2 and lost six. One match could not produce a result - winning % 25.00
- Two century stands have been registered for the West Indies vs India in T20Is. Evin Lewis figures in both - 126 with Johnson Charles for the first wicket at Lauderhill on August 27, 2016 and 112 (unbroken) with Marlon Samuels for the second wicket at Kingston on July 9, 2017.
Kieron Pollard, with 165 runs (ave 41.25) in six matches, including a fifty, is the leading-scorer for West Indies in T20Is this year.
- Right-arm fast medium bowler Kesrick Williams's only four wicket-haul in T20Is was recorded against Bangladesh at Basseterre on July 31, 2018.
- Kesrick Williams' bowling average of 8.87 this year is quite impressive, claiming eight wickets in three matches at a strike rate of 9.0.
- Kieron Pollard (953 runs at 21.65 and 26 wickets at 29.15 in 65 matches) is all set to become the second West Indian all-rounder after Dwayne Bravo (1142 runs at 24.29 and 52 wickets at 28.26 in 66 matches) to complete the double of 1,000 runs and 25 wickets in T20Is.
- Left-hander Evin Lewis remains the only batsman to hit two centuries vs India in Twenty20 Internationals - 125 not out (a career-best) at Kingston on July 9, 2017 and 100 at Lauderhill on August 27, 2016.
- Evin Lewis' strike rate of 153.04 while scoring 753 runs at an average of 30.12, including two hundreds and five fifties, in 26 matches, is the best by a West Indian batsman in T20Is.
- Kesrick Williams' strike rate of 11.8 while claiming 38 wickets in 21 matches is the best by a West Indian bowler in T20Is (minimum 35 wickets).
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