With the series closed in 1-1, the Indian hosts will face the West Indies two-times World Champion in the virtual final match at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Hosts will search for eight wins in a row over the West Indies in all their forms after the second T20I loss.
The West Indies recovered to put the series on par with a comfortable victory over India in the second T20I in Thiruvananthapuram after Virat Kohli helped the hosts dominate the opening of the series in Hyderabad.
Visitors did well to keep the hosts to a manageable total of 170 after winning the toss and decided to bowl first. Lendl Simmons and Evin Lewis achieved a healthy opening of 73 runs before both Shimron Hetmyer and Nicholas Pooran led the West Indies to a convincing victory in the end.
The Indian fielding was well below average at the first T20I. Dropping catches and many misfields led to say that if performance doesn't improve, the result won't be enough. The hosts are also good chasers, but they have to learn to defend goals.
The vice-captain of India, Rohit Sharma, said the hosts did not trust the "very unpredictable" side of the West Indies which was well led by his fellow Indian team mate from Mumbai Indians, Kieron Pollard.
"They are unpredictable as a team. You never know what can happen on a particular day. Even in the first game, they played very well. It was Virat's brilliance that led us to the goal. With the West Indies, this always expected, said Rohit Sharma
On the other hand, the West Indies will imagine their chances of closing the series after their amazing return. For visitors, Wankhede brings good memories of the ICC 2016 World Cup semi-finals when Windies beat India and won the title.
West Indies coach Phil Simmons said the team would rely heavily on Captain Kieron Pollard at the third T20 International Championship to decide the series against India, because his understanding of the field due to IPL exposure would be "invaluable" for bowlers.
"Kieron Pollard has played a lot at this place, while others haven't played much," Simmons said. "I think the experience they got from here is invaluable especially to Captain (Pollard), because he's been here for 10 years" at pre-match press conference.
Here are the squads of both the teams:
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Sanju Samson.
West Indies: Kieron Pollard (captain), Fabian Allen, Brandon King, Denesh Ramdin, Sheldon Cottrell, Evin Lewis, Sherfane Rutherford, Shimron Hetmyer, Khary Pierre, Lendl Simmons, Jason Holder, Hayden Walsh Jr, Keemo Paul, Kesrick Williams.
HIGHLIGHTS
- With the series locked at 1-1, hosts India take on two-time world champions West Indies in the virtual final
- West Indies bounced back to bring the series to parity with a comfortable victory over India in the second T20I
- India will be eyeing eight successive series win over West Indies across formats
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