T20 Cricket

“Hundred per cent he should be there in the T20 team. What he did in the previous T20 World Cup and in those close matches, I don’t see the reason why he can’t be seen playing T20 cricket and next year’s T20 World Cup,” Bangar told a YouTube channel ‘Cricket Basu’.

The West Indies have broken a six-year drought by defeating India by eight wickets in the fifth and final T20I in Florida on Sunday to clinch the five-game series in style.

After failing to get into double figures in the first three T20Is against the West Indies, Gill returned to form in the fourth match and scored a superb 77 and along with Yashasvi Jaiswal (84 not out) raised 165 runs for the opening wicket to help India to a nine-wicket win in the game and level the series 2-2.

With both teams looking to go all out in the series-decider, and the pitch helping batsmen, how will spinner Axar Patel be utilised? Do they intend to have his quota of four overs completed within the first 10 overs, or will they spread it out again?  

Jaiswal hit 11 fours and five sixes in his maiden T20I fifty while sharing a 165-run partnership with Gill as India pulled off the highest successful men’s T20I chase at the venue.

Yadav picked 3 crucial wickets in the first innings of the match, dismissing opener Brandon King, Johnson Charles and the dangerous Nicholas Pooran, to put the clamps on the West Indies to reduce the hosts to a meagre total of 159/5 after they had won the toss and elected to bat.

"This is a very good league; cricket has been very competitive. There is a very good mix of talented young and senior players. After the Lanka Premier League, we have a bilateral series against Afghanistan, followed by the Asia Cup and the World Cup. I am taking it series by series, and every game is an opportunity to prepare. For now, my full focus is on the league," he said.

On the other hand, India made two changes as Yashasvi Jaiswal is making his debut. He replaced Ishan Kishan in the line-up while Kuldeep Yadav comes in for Ravi Bishnoi.

As per a report in The Guardian, men's and women's T20 cricket competitions will be eligible for winning medals at the Olympics. Notably, cricket's first and only appearance in the Olympics was through a one-off gold medal match in the 1900 Games in Paris.