Follow UsTurn your notifications on, it is that time of the year when Test cricket, you beauty is all over social media. India finally travel to the West Indies and at a time when cricket in the Caribbean is bleeding. West Indies are just knocked out of the upcoming ODI World Cup, and they will be hoping to start well against India.
Pitch conditions and Team combination
Windsor Park hasn’t been a regular venue at the highest level, especially in the red-ball format. Only five Tests have been played at the venue, and the first was against India in 2011. West Indies have just won the one Test at the venue, against Zimbabwe, in 2013, and later on, they have been thoroughly beaten by the visitors.
In eight innings since 2015, the average first-innings total is 262. While in 2015, Australia won by nine wickets, in 2017, Pakistan registered a win by 101 runs. 40 wickets have been picked up by pacers, accounting for 58.0 % of the wickets. The spinners, though, have picked up only 29 wickets.
Suggested Teams
Captaincy Suggestions
For small leagues: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Kraigg Brathwaite (vc)
For grand leagues: Shubman Gill (c), Rahkeem Cornwall (vc)
Stats That Matter
Since 2015, 40 wickets have been picked up by pacers, accounting for 58.0 % of the wickets at the venue. The spinners, though, have picked up only 29 wickets. So, it is a tricky call for India to pick both Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin in the setup
Picking Ajinkya Rahane in your fantasy setup could well and truly help you earn your way to the top. In his last fixture, the right-handed Rahane scored 89 and 46 in the World Test Championship final against Australia. In seven Ranji Trophy encounters, the right-hander scored 634 runs, averaging a high 57.63, including scoring two hundreds, and a fifty.
In the 24 First-Class games since 2020, Rahkeem Cornwall has picked up 116 wickets, averaging 24. Not just that, the off-spinner has picked up eight five-wicket hauls to go with the nine four-wicket hauls. His bowling has made the selectors consider him for a spot in the playing XI.
In the two matches he’s batted at No.3, Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 377 runs, averaging a high 125.67. But that’s not the only reason he’s been picked in the squad, his aggressive batting style and approach at the crease has been eye-catching, with a strike rate of 82.3.
Probable XIs
India’s Predicted XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ishan Kishan (wk)/ KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mukesh Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Jaydev Unadkat
West Indies’ Predicted XI: Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Raymon Reifer, Jermaine Blackwood, Alick Athanaze, Rahkeem Cornwall, Joshua Da Silva (wk), Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Kemar Roach, Jomel Worrican