As the dust settled on ODIs with India sealing the series by a 2-1 margin. the attention now shifts to T20Is.

The Men in Blue are all set to take the yard against West Indies in what is going to be the first clash of the five-match T20I series. Lucknow will be playing host to the two sides who enjoyed an excellent competition in the longer format, duking it out till the very end.

India will be coming into this series on the back of a gold medal triumph in the Asian Games where they trumped Pakistan in the grand finale of the contest.

In the shortest format of the game, India have savoured some really thrilling games off late. They went on to defeat Afghanistan by 3-0 in a lopsided series while putting up a clinical show in the semis and the finale.

West Indies, on the contrary, will be coming into T20Is after June where they edged past Sri Lanka in a three-match T20I series. The Islanders will be hopeful of bringing in the red-hot form from their batters into the T20Is as well. Amir Jangoo, Shai Hope and Sherfane Rutherford were in great shape in the ODI series as well and they will be joined by the likes of Rovman Powell and Shimron Hetmyer, who are absolute specialists in the shortest format of the game.

One can expect the clash to be an absolute blockbuster with two iconic teams of the format going head-on against each other. An in-transition Indian team will be banking heavily upon their youngsters who have been mighty impressive in recent times. West Indies, however, will be desperate to combine their ODI form and the incoming hard-hitters in the same breath to challenge India’s supremacy.

Venue Watch:

The surface in Lucknow is conducive for the batters with the bounce and carry being true. Good shots would fetch you good value while being able to sail through the early movement would open up a new avenue for batters to strike at will. Spinners might be handy in the first half of the game but with the onset of dew, the second half will be a challenge for the turners, considering the fact that it will be tough for them to grip the ball.

Match details:

Match: India vs West Indies, 1st T20I

Venue: Ekana Cricket Stadium, Ardonamau

Date: 6th October, 2026

Time: 7:30 PM IST

Head-to-head:

Matches played – 31

India – 20

West Indies - 10

Squads:

India:

Shreyas Iyer (C), Tilak Varma (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Naman Dhir

West Indies:

Shai Hope (C & WK), Jewel Andrew, Roston Chase, Matthew Forde, Shimron Hetmyer, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Keemo Paul, Kamil Pooran, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Quentin Sampson, Romario Shepherd, Shamar Springer