india vs west indies live cricket match

Dhaka, Mar 23 : Well, we've had a sensational start to this Sunday with the first game between Pakistan and Australia going all the way down to the wire. A cracking contest awaits us, hello and a warm welcome to the second game of today's double-header. It's the defending champions West Indies locking horns against 2007 winners India, who kicked off their 2014 campaign with a win against Pakistan a couple of days ago. Darren Sammy's men have had a nice build-up to this mega event having beaten England at home and then winning both their warm-up games. Dhoni mentioned at the post-match presentation on Friday that the decision on the 3rd spinner would be taken only after having a look at the outfield just before the toss. So it'll be interesting to see the team combinations of both the sides.

Pitch Report: 'It is the same pitch that was used in the first game. It is very hard and flat. There are no foot marks on the wicket. Only because of the dew the captains may want to bowl first. The spinners will be the key on this track. We can expect a high scoring game', says Ravi Shastri

India have won the toss and have opted to field

Sammy: 'We feel very ready as a team having prepared very well. They are a good bunch of boys and we enjoy playing against them. We will now look to put the runs on the board like Pakistan. We have two spinners in the side, Narine and Badree. Ravi, Fletcher, Cotterell miss out and one more name I forgot.'

Dhoni: 'We tend to relax as there is no reason why we should be tensed as of now, but once the game starts, things will be different. We are looking to bowl first. There is a bit of dew around, but it's not alarming though. We are playing with the same squad'

Teams:
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami

West Indies (Playing XI): Chris Gayle, Dwayne Smith, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Bravo, Denesh Ramdin(w), Darren Sammy(c), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Samuel Badree, Krishmar Santokie

Match Preview :

There have been some words exchanged in the build-up to the game between Suresh Raina and Darren Sammy. It adds an extra edge to what was already promising to be an exciting clash.

India:

They have got off to a good start in the tournament. A morale-boosting win against Pakistan has helped India kick off on a positive not and they will be looking to take the momentum forward.

The bowling was much maligned going into the tournament but the managed to put on an excellent show in the first match. Playing three spinners proved to be the clincher in that game but MS Dhoni will be picking the eleven based on the conditions on the day.

Yuvraj Singh and Shikhar Dhawan were completely at sea in the first game. though the latter managed a few runs, it will be a cause of worry for the management.

Key for success:
Bowling at the death
Preparedness to defend targets

West Indies:

The reigning T20 WC champions continue to possess a lot of fire-power that has helped them start as one of the favorites. They will be eager to kick off their campaign on a positive note.

Kieran Pollard's unavailability might be a huge blow but West Indies will be keen to prove that they were not overtly dependent on him. Chris Gayle, arguably the best T20 batsman in the world, will undoubtedly be their talisman in batting but the likes of Dwayne Smith, Dwayne Bravo and Sammy make up a pretty strong line-up

Sunil Narine and Samuel Badree are the two top-ranked bowlers in T20Is. Those two will have their work cut out against the fleet-footed Indians. Dwayne Bravo's T20-League exposure with Chennai will help him against key players like Raina and Dhoni as well.

Key to success:

Performance of the spinners against India's batsmen
Chris Gayle's form
Stats:

There are no Indians in the top 30 leading wicket-takers in T20Is while three West Indians feature.

Darren Sammy can be an under-rated bowler at times. He is West Indies' leading wicket-taker in T20Is, ahead of the likes of Narine and Bravo.

Chris Gayle is 85 short of becoming the leading run-scorer in T20 games

Quotes:

They have a lot of players who can hit sixes but they don't have an idea of how to rotate the strike against spinners - Suresh Raina is pretty dismissive of West Indies' batting ability

Raina has a right to say whatever he wants but if he feels we're (just) six-hitters, then they got to stop up from hitting sixes - Darren Sammy responds to Raina's jibe