India Makes Changes as West Indies Bowls First in Indore T20I

India faced West Indies in the third T20I at Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore on October 11, 2026, with the five-match series level 1-1. West Indies won the toss and chose to bowl first, while both teams targeted a 2-1 series lead.

According to ap7am, India replaced Shivam Dube and Kuldeep Yadav with Nitish Kumar Reddy and Prince Yadav in the playing XI. West Indies rested Romario Shepherd due to a niggle and included Quentin Sampson and Keemo Paul.

The match followed two major batting performances. According to sports.yahoo.com, India won the first T20I in Lucknow by eight wickets after Shreyas Iyer scored 102 not out, while West Indies chased 252/4 in Ranchi for a six-wicket win, their highest successful T20I chase.

Iyer said a conversation with Abhishek Nayar helped him regain rhythm before his century against West Indies in the opening match.

"I had a brief interaction with Abhishek Nayar in that period (during his time in Japan) where we were talking about cricket. I think that conversation with him helped me a lot in today's performance. The key note which I observed in my batting today was setting myself before the delivery of the ball, and that worked perfectly. So, to create that momentum and rhythm was essential at the start of the innings, and it worked out pretty well." said Shreyas Iyer, India captain.

Iyer had struggled to cross 30 in his previous 10 T20I innings before the Lucknow century, according to Times of India. He later continued as captain with changes made for the Indore conditions.

"The dew factor played a massive role in the previous game, on a given day it happens you need to have that mindset to put it behind. It's important that we adapt and assess quickly to get to a commendable total. Given the dimensions we made those changes and we also needed someone who can hit the yorkers," said Shreyas Iyer, India captain.

West Indies captain Shai Hope entered the match after leading the team's record chase in Ranchi, where he scored 102 during the six-wicket victory.

"I think we all know what I am going to do, so we are going to bowl first again. It's going to be challenging when you are playing all three formats. Just about learning as quickly as possible in these conditions. We always know that catches determine a lot of games," said Shai Hope, West Indies captain.

Nayar explained that he worked with Iyer before the series opener to address technical adjustments in his batting. He said the changes involved grip, initial movement and backlift.

"I went to meet him and he was feeling that he wasn't getting the power to hit sixes. He wasn't feeling that he could hit a sixer. So, we spoke about some technical things and made some changes in batting.

We spent two hours on his grip and backlift. I can't tell you what exactly, but I changed his grip and backlift a little bit. Basically, I made a slight alteration to his grip, the initial movement and his backlift," said Abhishek Nayar, former India and Mumbai allrounder.

Nayar added that Iyer's confidence was not the main concern during the period before his return to form.

"There was no issue with his confidence or batting. He was missing the 'feel' to hit sixes and that was it," said Abhishek Nayar, former India and Mumbai allrounder.

Nayar also said he reviewed earlier footage of Iyer's batting while helping him return to familiar techniques.

"I compared his old videos and tried to set him up to get to what is normally very comfortable with him. I did a little bit and set him up. It's such an old relationship. It's such an understanding, that it doesn't take that much time," said Abhishek Nayar, former India and Mumbai allrounder.

According to sports.yahoo.com, Holkar Cricket Stadium has traditionally produced high scores, with short boundaries and an average first-innings T20I total of 200.25. India entered the match leading the T20I head-to-head record 21-11 from 33 matches, with one no result.