West Indies tour of India 2026 | 2nd T20I | Preview and Predictions

Captain Shreyas Iyer’s maiden T20I century powered India to a dominating win in the opening T20I against West Indies and the hosts will look to continue their T20I running run moving to Ranchi. The visitors, West Indies meanwhile, had a poor day in the field, both with the bat and ball and Shai Hope’s boys will be looking to bounce back in Ranchi.

Ahead of the second T20I between India and West Indies, here’s our match preview and predictions.

IND v WI 2026 | 2nd T20I | 19:00 IST, October 9, 2026

Making a couple of changes from their Asian Games campaign, India once again started Sanju Samson over Vaibhav Sooryavanshi with Samson continuing to disappoint and waste his chances. Abhishek Sharma’s quick start was cut short and chasing 172, the hosts were in a spot of bother at 35/2 before Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan controlled the chase with a sublime partnership. Iyer started slow and cautiously and Kishan was conservative at the start of the partnership as well before Iyer flipped the switch and smashed his way to a maiden international T20I century which saw India chase down the target with more than five overs left. Iyer finished with 102* while Kishan continued his stellar run of form of late, getting another handy contribution of 37. With the likes of Shivam Dube and Naman Dhir in the squad, the hosts bat deep with Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube and Naman Dhir making up a long and explosive lower middle order. 

The bowling attack was Arshdeep Singh led the attack in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah who has been rested for the series. Along with Singh, Mayank Yadav shared the new ball and while Yadav was a tad expensive, Yadav impressed with good pace even in his second spell at the end of the innings. The spinners were the ones who put a check on the batters as Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Naman Dhir in his debut T20I made sure West Indies weren’t able to get close to 200. Dhir was brave with the ball, despite going for some runs while Patel and Kuldeep Yadav showed their experience in the middle. 

West Indies were put into bat first and Shai Hope continued his strong form from the ODI series, putting up another half century. The top and middle order failed to capitalise though on the platform set by Hope and barring Sherfane Rutherford’s late heroics, only two other West Indies batters crossed 10. Hope will be expecting that his batters step up and apply themselves in conditions that suit batting. The bowlers   were unable to contain the Indian batters as Akeal Hosein seemed like the only one who troubled the Indian batters. With the likes of Shamar Joseph, Roston Chase and Matt Forde in their arsenal, West Indies will be hoping for a better showing with the ball as well in Ranchi. 

Another ground that provides something for the batters, the Ranchi strip will bring about a lot of runs and some turn and grip for the spinners. India start as the clear favourites given West Indies’ all-round struggles with the bat and the ball and we have India set to take a two-nil lead in the series.

Fantasy XI: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma (c), Shai Hope (wk), Ishan Kishan (vc), Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Axar Patel, Akeal Hosein, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Shamar Joseph

Venue: JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi

Winners Prediction: India