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Dew, short boundaries and an Arshdeep doubt: India and West Indies settle it in Bengaluru
The series is level at 2-2 before Saturday night's decider at the Chinnaswamy. India squeezed in a trip to Delhi to meet the Prime Minister, and still have no word on their left-arm seamer.
Key points
- The fifth T20I at the Chinnaswamy is scheduled for a 7 pm IST start on Saturday.
- There is still no medical update on Arshdeep Singh after the blow he took in Hyderabad.
- Sunil Gavaskar told Shamar Joseph to aim at the stumps, not the batter.
India and West Indies will decide their five-match T20I series at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday night, and the questions hanging over the home side have barely changed since Hyderabad: who bowls the hard overs, and is Arshdeep Singh fit to bowl any of them.
The match is scheduled to start at 7 pm IST. With the series at 2-2, there is no room for a slow start from either side.
A detour through Delhi
India’s build-up did not run in a straight line. A day after the 24-run defeat in Hyderabad, Shreyas Iyer and his players were in New Delhi on Thursday for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s felicitation of India’s Asian Games contingent at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium. Iyer, who led the men’s side to a second straight Asian Games gold, presented the Prime Minister with a signed jersey.
The team then had to turn its mind back to a West Indies side that has scored 252 and 247 in its two wins.
Still waiting on Arshdeep
There had been no medical update on Arshdeep by Friday morning. The left-armer was struck on the arm and shoulder by a short ball from Shamar Joseph in the final over in Hyderabad and was called off by Iyer. He is expected to be assessed before the team decides on him. Jasprit Bumrah is unavailable, and Harshit Rana is also reported to be injured, so India’s seam stocks are thin.
The over drew sharp words from Sunil Gavaskar on commentary. After Joseph followed the blow with another ball at the body, Gavaskar said: “Just aim at the stumps. Don’t aim at him. He is aiming at him. Why attack the batter when the stumps are right there?”
Earlier, as Arshdeep tried to carry on, he said: “If he is not ok, he should retire. He seems to be in pain. You do not want to aggravate that injury.”
Small ground, wet ball
Bengaluru is no place for a nervous bowling unit. The square boundaries are around 54 metres and the straight ones about 70, and the outfield is quick. The evening forecast is for about 23°C at the start, falling to about 22°C by 10 pm, with humidity near 85%. Some rain is also in the forecast.
Dew is the bigger worry. It wrecked India in Ranchi, where Axar Patel went for 63 without a wicket and Kuldeep Yadav for 53 as West Indies ran down 250 in 18.3 overs. A captain who wins the toss on Saturday is likely to bowl first.
That would cut against India’s own history at the ground. They have played eight T20Is at the Chinnaswamy, winning four, losing three, with one washed out, and all four wins came batting first. The last T20I here was the tied game against Afghanistan in January 2024, when both sides made 212 for 4 and India won in a Super Over.
What comes next
The winner takes the series, and neither side gets long to dwell on it. India’s next assignment is a five-match T20I series in New Zealand that starts at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on 22 October. Arshdeep is in that 16-man squad too, which gives the selectors a reason to be careful with him on Saturday.