India vs West Indies: Misfiring Men in Blue hope to keep series alive

West Indies hold the upper hand going into the third T20I against India. Not often are they in a commanding position versus India but this is one such anomaly brought on by a lacklustre batting show by the visitors. Fact that it comes at a time when West Indies are arguably at their lowest, doesn’t help India either. With a 2-0 lead, and three T20Is to go, West Indies have a chance of winning their first bilateral series against India since 2016 (of two or more matches). They also have the opportunity to win back-to-back T20 series for the first time since 2017. If they do pull it off, it will be a massive morale boost with T20 World Cup at home in less than a year’s time. Leading the success in the second T20I was Nicholas Pooran whose blitz took the hosts from a precarious position to one of command. Yuzvendra Chahal momentarily wrestled it back but India skipper on a platter with . The battle may well come down to Windies batters vs Indian spinners once again. If the likes of Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer and Jason Holder can resist, another game could go down to the wire. In the first two matches, in the game of nerves, the West Indies have fared better. The bowlers closed the game out in the opener and the batters in the second. For India, the challenge comes from the batting - again. due to a long tail with as many as four No 11s in the playing XI in the opener. Except Tilak Varma, the top and middle order has struggled to get cracking on low bounce and slow pitches. India coach Rahul Dravid declared the objective is to think long term and not bother about short term results. With that in mind, giving game game time to Sanju Samson, Mukesh Kumar, Ravi Bishnoi and Ishan Kishan has been important. Away from the auditioners for the T20 World Cup, lack of runs from Suryakumar Yadav and Shubman Gill has hurt India and the duo would be keen to make amends.