WI vs IND 4th T20I preview: India look to seal series in USA

Shreyas Iyers performance will be under intense scrutiny as India gear up for the backtoback T20I games against West Indies starting here on Saturday with the twin objective of winning the series and also firming up squad for T20 World CupIndia are currently leading the fivematch series 21 and nothing would be more satisfying than a couple of thumping wins in front of the USAs Indian diaspora which is anticipating an enjoyable weekend cricket carnivalHowever in this current India setup if there is one man whose performance will be monitored more than anyone else it has got to be IyerDeepak Hooda who has used most of the opportunities handed to him looks good to outwit Iyer at the moment as far as the big ticket T20 World Cup berth is concernedWith KL Rahul and Virat Kohli all set to be back in the playing eleven for the Asia Cup time is certainly running out for the 27yearold Mumbaikar who has had scores of 0 10 11 balls and 24 27 balls in the three games so far in the ongoing seriesHe looked distinctly uncomfortable against the fast and rising deliveriesWhile the short ball is his main problem watching Iyer gives a feeling that he is unable to decide at what pace and which gear would he bat in a T20 game something thats not the case when he is taking strike in 50over formatIn head coach Rahul Dravids regime so far no player has got a raw deal in terms of chances and are given long enough rope to succeedHowever in case of Iyer his T20I game hasnt exactly yielded the results that one has seen him deliver in the ODI cricketEven then Dravid has given Iyer nine T20I games in last two and half months out of which one in Bengaluru was a washout and there hasnt been a single fiftyplus score even when he got chance to come out within first 10 oversIf Iyer gets a go in the last two games he has no option but to put his best foot forward as the Asia Cup team in all probability will also be the likely team for the T20 World CupEven if Iyer makes the cut for Asia Cup or T20 World Cup there is a miniscule chance of him getting a first XI lookin in a jampacked toporderAlso Read Shattered Glenn Maxwell remains confident of Test recall for India seriesRohit likely to be availableWhile Suryakumar Yadavs aweinspiring shots left all and sundry wideeyed he is expected to have his skipper Rohit Sharma for company at the top of the orderIn the third game in Basseterre Rohit was forced to retire hurt with a back spasm when he was batting on 11 and it was more like a precautionary measure with a threeday gap in between gamesThe Indian captain would like to continue his recent good form and positive intent in the two remaining games but at the same time would have the best seat to judge the form of some of his battersRishabh Pant has looked good in all his short stints at the crease and wouldnt mind having a big one in front of a packed audience at Central Broward Park StadiumPlaying Avesh a compulsion in wake of Harshals injuryAvesh Khan has been taken to cleaners in the last two games but DravidRohit pair has no other option but to continue with the profligate MP speedster as Harshal Patel hasnt fully recovered from his ribcage injury Avesh throughout his career has been a bit onedimensional with either bowling too short or too full giving batters ample time to work on the pace or play the fullblooded driveIt will be interesting to see if Kuldeep Yadav gets a game in the series and India play an extra spinner in case Harshal doesnt get fit in timeTeamsIndia Rohit Sharma Captain Suryakumar Yadav Shreyas Iyer Deepak Hooda Hardik Pandya Rishabh Pant Ishan Kishan Dinesh Karthik Sanju Samson Ravindra Jadeja Axar Parel Ravichandran Ashwin Ravi Bishnoi Kuldeep Yadav Arshdeep Singh Avesh Khan Bhuvneswar Kumar Harshal PatelWest Indies Nicholas Pooran Captain Rovman Powell Shamarh Brooks Dominic Drakes Shimron Hetmyer Jason Holder Akeal Hosein Alzarri Joseph Brandon King Kyle Mayers Obed McCoy Keemo Paul Romario Shepherd Odean Smith Devon Thomas Hayden WalshMatch starts at 8 PM IST