India beat the West Indies by eight wickets in the first T20I at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Tuesday, October 6. The Men in Blue took a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
The second T20I is scheduled to be held on Friday, October 9. It’s a long series, and the hosts are on the back of a grueling Asian Games trip to Japan. It wouldn’t be surprising to see them ring in the changes for the next clash.
On that note, here are three changes India should make for the second T20I against the West Indies.
#3 Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for Sanju Samson
Sanju Samson has been wildly inconsistent ever since his brilliant run of form at the business end of the T20 World Cup. More often than not since then, the right-handed opener has been dismissed for single digits.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is currently on the bench, and there’s every reason to state that he deserves to be picked in the XI ahead of Samson. The dynamic left-hander had an incredible campaign in the 2026 Indian Premier League and desperately needs a run of consistent games with the senior national side.
#2 Nitish Kumar Reddy for Axar Patel
Axar Patel played a big role in India’s gold medal performance at the Asian Games. It’s well established that he’s one of the team’s premier spin-bowling all-rounders in the shortest format and doesn’t need to play for his place in the side.
Nitish Kumar Reddy, who had an indifferent ODI series against the Windies, could use some confidence. India are also currently playing with just two specialist fast bowlers, meaning that Reddy could have a role to play with the new ball in Ranchi.
Axar’s absence would also allow captain Shreyas Iyer to get some left-arm spin overs out of Abhishek Sharma, who needs to develop his bowling with the long run in mind. A rest for the senior left-arm spinner could be in order.
#1 Prince Yadav for Mayank Yadav
Mayank Yadav needs a good run of matches to get his rhythm to its best, but the express fast bowler has also been injury prone over the years. His speeds weren’t elite in the series opener, and it might be in India’s best interests to play him in alternate matches over the course of the five-game rubber.
Prince Yadav is the straightforward alternative who can come in off the bench. Capable of taking the new ball and bowling at the death, he could be better suited to operating in a two-specialist pace attack alongside Arshdeep Singh.
Edited by Sai Krishna