T20 World Cup 2021: Strongest West Indies Predicted Playing XI against Sri Lanka

West Indies and Sri Lanka will be setting the stage for the 35^th match of the T20 World Cup 2021 which takes place in Abu Dhabi. Talking about the journey of both the teams so far, they have been marching in the tournament with only a single victory. While West Indies have won one out of their three games, Sri Lanka have a single victory in four games.

They do not stand a chance to storm through the semi-final but will step up for the pride of the nation as the tournament moves into the fag end of the league stage. West Indies were one of the favorites before they stepped in the tournament as they are defending champions and have dominated the proceeding twice so far but nothing clicked for them this time around. In the same light, let’s take a look at-

West Indies predicted playing XI against Sri Lanka

Openers (Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis)

As West Indies only win came against Bangladesh in their last game and that too by three runs, it looks unlikely that they will tinker their combination. Chris Gayle will open the order with Evin Lewis even if both of them couldn’t contribute to their last cause. Gayle has been a specialist T20 batter for a long time and even if he clicks once up the order, things can go well for the Caribbean in a quick span.

Middle-order (Roston Chase, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran, Kieron Pollard)

If there was one aspect that came up good for the side after long, it was wicketkeeper Nicholas Pooran’s form who rose from a long rusty patch to play an eventful inning of 40 runs off 22 balls. It would be great for WI if he can carry up the momentum in this game as well.

WI chose to go with Roston Chase in their last game who shone for them in their warm-up game too and produced 39 runs from his end even if the strike rate fell below 100. Hetmyer stands to be another power hitter in their artillery but nothing has worked for West Indies so far. The team that looked so star-studded on papers has failed to ignite a spark. Pollard would be leading the side as expected.

All-rounders (Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell, and Jason Holder)

When Bravo was coming from a great CPL and IPL season, the team might have expected a lot from him but a performance of that extent has not come on the table from the all-rounder. He picked a wicket in the last game but failed with the bat and conceded over 9. Andre Russel can unleash the beast within him in quick succession but even that has not come up for the team.

The team which was known for some of their best T20 players and all-rounder is struggling to turn around things for them this time. Holder was quick with the bat last time as he smashed 15 off 5 balls to help WI post a fine total on the board and maintained the best economy from the slot.

Bowlers (Akeal Hosein and Ravi Rampaul)

Hosein and Rampaul would be the two pure bowling options for West Indies in their game against Sri Lanka in all the likeliness. As they play their next game against Sri Lanka, they would aim to restrict them in powerplay itself as they carry the momentum from their last game of maintaining decent figures.