India vs West Indies: KL Rahul 26 runs away from joining Indian stalwarts in illustrious T20I list

Ind vs WI: Team India are scheduled to play three T20Is against Windies followed by as many ODIs in a month long tour for West Indies.

Opener KL Rahul is on the verge of joining an elite list of India cricketers when he takes to the field against West Indies in the first T20I at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Friday. The ‘Men in Blue’ are scheduled to play three T20Is against Windies followed by as many ODIs in a month long tour for the visitors.

File image of India cricketer KL Rahul. (AP)

Rahul will be hoping to return to form and put his best foot forward in the curtain-raiser in Hyderabad. If he manages to score at lease 26 runs in the first T20I, Rahul will become the seventh Indian batsman to score 1000+ runs in shortest format.

So far, only Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan and Yuvraj Singh have managed to achieve this feat.

Most T20I runs for India

2539: Rohit Sharma

2450: Virat Kohli

1617: MS Dhoni

1605: Suresh Raina

1504: Shikhar Dhawan

1177: Yuvraj Singh

With the T20I World Cup set to be played next year, the focus of the Indian cricket team is on trying out different combination of players and youngsters.

Fast bowler Deepak Chahar, who took a hat-trick in the 3rd T20I against Bangladesh, and recorded the best-ever figures in T20I match, will be a key figure in the Indian bowling attack in the upcoming series, especially with Jasprit Bumrah out of action due to injury.

India’s squad for 3 T20Is: Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma (VC), KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (WK), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sanju Samson.