This story is from August 12, 2023
India will hope that the top-order batsmen will helm their march towards a series-levelling victory over the West Indies with another impact effort in the fourth T20I at Lauderhill on Saturday.
India might have stayed afloat with a win in the third T20I but Windies still lead the series 2-1, a reminder that the visitors still have concerns surrounding the batting unit.
It was a comforting sight indeed to see Suryakumar Yadav flicking on his beast mode and Tilak Varma chipping in with crucial runs.
India had handed T20I debut to Yashasvi Jaiswal, resting Ishan Kishan, but the opening pair failed to impress, making just six runs.
Jaiswal fell in the first over and in the previous two matches, Kishan and Shubman Gill had managed to score just five and 16 for the first wicket.
Whether India will bring back Kishan for this match remains to be seen, but the management will hope for a more potent outing from the openers in a must-win match.
That India do not have a handy bat lower down the order makes it mandatory for batsmen at the top to deliver.
India have deployed Axar Patel at No. 7 to maintain the balance and they might continue to adopt the five-bowler policy.
The way Tilak Varma carried the burden on his young shoulders has been remarkable.
| PLAYED | 10 |
| WON | 3 |
| LOST | 6 |
| NR | 1 |
| DATE | OPPONENT | RESULT |
| 30-6-2012 | New Zealand | WI won by 56 runs |
| 1-7-2012 | New Zealand | WI won by 61 runs |
| 27-8-2016 | India | WI won by 1 run |
| 28-8-2016 | India | No Result |
| 4-8-2018 | Bangladesh | Bangladesh won by 12 runs |
| 5-8-2018 | Bangladesh | Bangladesh won by 19 runs |
| 3-8-2019 | India | India won by 4 wickets |
| 4-8-2019 | India | India won by 22 runs |
| 6-8-2022 | India | India won by 59 runs |
| 7-8-2022 | India | India won by 88 runs |