India vs West Indies T20Is: Most memorable performances by Indian players

India and West Indies will resume their friendly rivalry in the first T20I of a three-match series that kicks off in Hyderabad on Friday. India hold an 8-5 lead over the visitors in 14 T20Is that the two teams have played with one T20I in 2016 being washed out. The three-match series will mark the comeback of Bhuvneshwar Kumar – who hasn’t played since the tour of West Indies after World Cup 2019. Virat Kohli will also be back to lead India in the shortest format.

Kieron Pollard, who is still relatively new in this role, will lead West Indies. Ahead of the series, the World Champions suffered a big upset against Afghanistan in Lucknow. After winning the first T20I, the Men in Maroon failed to chase down targets in the next two matches and lost the series 1-2. At the same time, India defeated Bangladesh but it wasn’t a comprehensive series win for the hosts.

The much-awaited battle between two teams seems to be promising and a full-strength India hold an edge over the visitors. Ahead of the series, we look at top three performances by Indian players against West Indies in the shortest format:

In the absence of skipper Virat Kohli, Rohit led from the front and clobbered 111* off 61 in the second T20I to score his fourth century in the shortest format. His innings included seven sixes and eight fours.

Rohit’s efforts saw India put up a huge total of 195/2 on the board, which the visitors failed to chase. With his astonishing effort, Rohit climbed to the top in the list of batsmen with most centuries in this format. During the same T20I, Rohit also went past Kohli’s tally to become highest run-scorer for India.

Asked to chase down a mammoth target of 246 in the opening T20I in Florida, India had lost the wickets of Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli inside first five overs. Rahul, who had just played three T20Is by then, stepped up and added 89 runs for the third wicket.

After Rohit’s dismissal, he carried Team India’s hopes alone on his shoulders and scored his maiden century to join the elite list of players with a century across formats. He put India on the cusp of famous victory but West Indies successfully defended eight runs in the last over to go 1-0 up in the series.

Saini had a debut to remember against West Indies as he came up with a Player of the Match performance in Team India’s victory. The Delhi-pacer dismissed Nicholas Pooran (20 off 16), Kieron Pollard (49 off 49) and Shimron Hetmyer (0 off 1) to bag a three-for. He was on a hat-trick after dismissing Pooran and Hetmyer on consecutive deliveries but missed out on achieving the rare feat.

Saini’s performance remains to be one of the finest bowling spells by a debutant. He missed out on the series against Bangladesh due to fitness issues and will hope to make his comeback against Sri Lanka next year.