India vs West Indies, ICC World T20 2016 Semi final 2: Player vs Player stats

India and West Indies will take to the field in front of a packed house at the Wankhede on Thursday evening for the second semi final of the T20 World Cup 2016 (T20 WC). Both nations will be harbouring hopes of progressing to the final and becoming the first to win this event twice.

4 T20 Internationals have been evenly split 2 – 2 between these two sides, 3 of those being T20 WC group stage matches in 2009, 2010 & 2014. it’s fair to say that they have never faced each other with so much at stake in T20 WCs, adding another compelling angle to this fascinating story.

India have never lost at this stage of the tournament, beating Australia & South Africa in 2007 & 2014 respectively. On the other hand, West Indies have faltered twice in 2009 & 2014.

It usually rains runs in Wankhede in T20s and we don’t expect it to be any different this time around.

In this article, we statistically compare the playing XIs of both sides and attempt to judge which team will start the contest as favourites. The winner between each duo has been judged only by T20 International career stats and not talent, form or anything else.

NOTE: The lineups mentioned above are predicted teams and might not actually be the XIs that take to the field on Friday.

India	West Indies	Who’s Better?
Shikhar Dhawan Runs – 416, Avg – 20.8, Strike Rate – 113.35	Johnson Charles Runs – 527, Avg – 20.26, Strike Rate – 112.12	TIE – Cannot be seperated whatsoever
Rohit Sharma Runs – 1249, Avg – 30.46, Strike Rate – 126.54	Chris Gayle Runs – 1510, Avg – 36.82, Strike Rate – 145.75	West Indies – Chris Gayle is a one man machine
Virat Kohli Runs – 1552, Avg – 55.42, Strike Rate – 132.99	Marlon Samuels Runs – 1040, Avg – 28.1, Strike Rate – 120.09	India – Is there a better batsman in the world right now?
Ajinkya Rahane Runs – 324, Avg – 20.25, Strike Rate – 113.68	Lendl Simmons Runs – 761, Avg – 25.36, Strike Rate – 113.92	West Indies – Both players will look to make the most of a place in the team
MS Dhoni (WK & Captain) Runs – 1026, Avg – 35.37, Strike Rate – 121.42	Denesh Ramdin (WK) Runs – 421, Avg – 16.19, Strike Rate – 115.65	India – Captain cool MS Dhoni is the best there is
Suresh Raina Runs – 1203, Avg – 29.34, Strike Rate – 132.92	Darren Sammy (Captain) Runs – 532, Avg – 16.12, Strike Rate – 149.01	India – Suresh Raina will however have to rediscover his form
Ravindra Jadeja Runs – 103, Avg – 8.58, SR – 88.79 Wickets – 29, Avg – 29.1, RPO – 6.88	Dwayne Bravo Runs – 1029, Avg – 24.5, SR – 118.54 Wickets – 46, Avg – 27.54, RPO – 8.35	West Indies – Bravo could be key with both the bat and the ball
Hardik Pandya Runs – 78, Avg – 11.14, SR – 139.28 Wickets – 15, Avg – 21.13, RPO – 7.82	Andre Russell Runs – 124, Avg – 20.66, SR – 114.81 Wickets – 18, Avg – 36.61, RPO – 9.13	TIE – Both dangerous players, either could take the game away
Ravichandran Ashwin Runs – 112, Avg – 28, SR – 103.7 Wickets – 50, Avg – 21.74, RPO – 6.87	Carlos Brathwaite Runs – 25, Avg – 8.33, SR – 113.63 Wickets – 2, Avg – 75.5, RPO – 9.43	Sample size too small to judge – Brathwaite has played only 6 T20Is
Jasprit Bumrah Wickets – 18, Avg – 19.66, RPO – 6.37	Samuel Badree Wickets – 37, Avg – 14.75, RPO – 5.40	West Indies – Samuel Badree has taken 3 wickets twice & looks dangerous
Ashish Nehra Wickets – 30, Avg – 20.73, RPO – 7.77	Suleiman Benn Wickets – 18, Avg – 29.44, RPO – 6.88	India – Nehra has picked up a wicket in each game this World Cup

Result: INDIA 4 (Kohli, Dhoni Raina, Nehra) – WEST INDIES 4 (Gayle, Bravo, Simmons, Badree)

TIE – 2 (Pandya v Russell, Dhawan v Charles)

Could Ashwin be the difference?

Summary

It is nearly impossible to predict a winner with the plethora of match winners in each team. Numbers proved to be an insufficient metric to separate these two teams and it might require a special performance to decide the fate of this game. Who is to rule out a special performance in this game though? Chris Gayle will be nicely rested and raring to go. Kohli is in the form of his life, everything he touches right now turns to gold.

India will be hoping for better from the likes of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan & Suresh Raina. A deplorable run rate of 5.66 in the powerplay depicts India’s struggles at the top over the course of the tournament. West Indies on the other hand will hope to bounce back from the blip against Afghanistan and play the kind of cricket that took them to 3 wins in 3 at the start of the World Cup.

India would normally be favourites playing at home. However, the West Indians have proven to be expert proponents of this version of the game and consistenly outperform others in the IPL.

All we do know is that it is going to be special. Wankhede will be ready, the rest of India will be ready, it’s up to the players now. Sit back and enjoy.