With the West Indies putting up a stronger challenge than expected, India will need to address some of the flaws in their batting if they are to beat the visitors in the series-deciding fifth T20I in Bengaluru on Saturday. The match is expected to be a high-scoring contest, with the five-match series currently level at 2-2.The run-heavy first four matches have helped hide several weaknesses in India’s batting unit, which could come under greater scrutiny in the series decider.West Indies captain Shai Hope, meanwhile, has a chance to break multiple batting records while leading his team towards a series win in India.Hope scored an unbeaten century in the fourth T20I on Wednesday (October 14) and has made 261 runs across the four matches so far. If he scores at least 71 runs at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday, he will surpass England opener Phil Salt’s record for the most runs in a bilateral T20I series.Salt scored 331 runs in five T20Is during England’s five-match series against the West Indies in December 2023. Hope will need a big innings in the final match to go past that mark.Hope already holds the record for the most runs scored in a T20I series against India. He can also set a new mark for the most runs scored by a captain in a bilateral T20I series.If he scores at least 25 runs in the fifth T20I, Hope will move past Pakistan’s Babar Azam, who scored 285 runs as captain in seven T20Is against England in 2022. Hope has scored 261 runs as captain in the ongoing series.Another century would also put Hope in a league of his own among captains in T20I cricket. He is currently tied with India’s Rohit Sharma, Babar Azam and Adil Butt of Eswatini, with all four having scored three T20I centuries as captains. A fourth century would make Hope the first captain to reach that mark in the format.
