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India can seal West Indies series in Hyderabad after Indore fightback
Leading 2-1, Shreyas Iyer's side need one more win on Wednesday. The squad has a new look since selection, and the New Zealand tour is eight days away.
Key points
- India lead the five-match series 2-1 going into Wednesday's fourth T20I in Hyderabad.
- Naman Dhir replaced Washington Sundar in the T20I squad before the series began.
- India's T20I squad for New Zealand has already been named, with the first match in Christchurch on 22 October.
India go to Hyderabad on Wednesday one win away from the series. A 14-run victory in Indore on Sunday put Shreyas Iyer’s side 2-1 up against West Indies, and a win in the fourth T20I at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium would settle the five-match contest with a game to spare. The match starts at 7 pm IST.
It has been a series of big totals and quick swings. Iyer’s unbeaten 102 set up an eight-wicket win in Lucknow. In Ranchi, Shai Hope’s 102 and Sherfane Rutherford’s 84 took West Indies to 252 for 4 in 18.3 overs, chasing down India’s 250. Then, in Indore, India defended 223, with Abhishek Sharma making 69 off 30 balls and Arshdeep Singh taking 3 for 44.
The squad India have
The squad has changed since the selectors named it on 16 September. Naman Dhir replaced Washington Sundar for the T20Is, and Dhir has made his mark: two wickets in Indore, including Shimron Hetmyer and Kamil Pooran.
India’s 15 are Iyer (captain), Tilak Varma (vice-captain), Abhishek, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, Dhir, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep, Prince Yadav and Mayank Yadav.
For Indore, India left out Kuldeep and Dube and brought in Prince and Nitish, trading a spinner for a seamer on a ground with short boundaries. Iyer said the plan was built around the death overs.
Given the dimensions, we made those changes and we also needed someone who can hit the yorkers. It was wonderful to see the bowlers being confident.
West Indies looking for an answer
West Indies have shown they can chase anything, but in Indore their bowlers conceded 223 and the batters fell short despite 43 from Hetmyer and 42 from Pooran. Hope, the captain, said the margins were small. “Probably with the ball, we could’ve executed a little bit better,” he said after the match.
New Zealand in view
These last two games are India’s final T20Is before they fly to New Zealand. The selectors named a 16-man squad for that five-match series on 6 October. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Varun Chakaravarthy come in, while Bishnoi is not in it. The first match is in Christchurch on 22 October.
The fifth and final T20I against West Indies is at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday, 17 October.
The documents
- India's squad for home series against West Indies and ROI squad for Irani Cup announcedBCCI, 16 September 2026
- India and India A squads for New Zealand tour announcedBCCI, 6 October 2026
- Abhishek, Arshdeep shine in India's Indore triumphICC, 11 October 2026