West Indies tour of India 2026 | 3rd T20I | Preview and Predictions
Shai Hope’s incredible century saw the West Indies bounce back in style against India in the second T20I to tie up the series.
In Ranchi, WI chased down a steep 250 with relative ease. Now, Shreyas Iyer & Co will be looking to retake the lead in the series, while the visitors, high on confidence, will be looking to move ahead themselves.
Ahead of the third T20I between India and the West Indies, here we present our preview and predictions.
IND v WI 2026 | 3rd T20I | 19:00 IST, October 11, 2026
The hosts were put into bat in Ranchi and put up an incredible batting display, with a well-rounded effort powering them to 249/5.
After a long period of low scores, Sanju Samson finally got some runs under his belt, making the most of his chances to get to 82. Ishan Kishan also continued his rich run of form, while captain Iyer and Tilak Varma’s late blitzkrieg saw India put up a 250-run target.
As strong as their batting was, however, India’s bowling proved toothless on a pitch tailor-made for batting. While it was a tough pitch to bowl on anyway, India’s players didn’t help themselves and collectively had an off-day, which resulted in them not even being able to take the game to the 20th over despite having 250 runs to defend.
Experienced bowlers, such as Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, and Arshdeep Singh, were all over the place with their line and length; the management will be expecting them to put up a better showing in Indore. The dew factor also didn’t help, but at the end of the day, they didn’t help themselves.
The visitors, on the other hand, won a crucial toss in Ranchi, with Shai Hope having no doubts in putting India into bat first.
Despite giving away 249, the standout bowler for the Windies was Roston Chase. The veteran all-rounder wasn’t afraid to make the batters play the strokes, and his off-spin saw him end with figures of 3/24 from his four overs, going at six runs per over on a night where bowlers from both teams went at 12 or more.
With the bat, although WI lost two early wickets, captain Hope continued his strong run of form. His unbeaten 102*, along with a sublime 84 from Sherfane Rutherford, saw the West Indies kill the chase. Romario Shepherd got some crucial game time and made the most of it, with his quick-fire 34* helping the visitors complete a chase of 250 with nine balls left.
While the bowlers had a rough day in Ranchi, the pitches on this tour haven’t helped them for the most part. India is known to produce batting-friendly wickets, and it seems to be getting to a point where their bowlers are suffering the most.
The Indore ground is another one known for high scores, which means the runs will continue to flow and the bowlers will continue to disappear. The seam bowlers might find some purchase early on, but we expect another match dominated by batters.
This time, though, India should be able to bounce back from a heavy defeat given the talent and squad depth at their disposal.
Fantasy XI: Abhishek Sharma (c), Shai Hope (wk), Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Shimron Hetmyer, Sherfane Rutherford, Rovman Powell, Axar Patel, Akeal Hosein, Arshdeep Singh, Shamar Joseph
Venue: Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore
Winners Prediction: India
