India and West Indies move straight from a hard-fought 2-1 ODI series into the T20I leg of the tour, with the first of five matches starting October 6 in Lucknow. The series then moves to Ranchi (October 9), Indore (October 11), Hyderabad (October 14) and finishes in Bengaluru on October 17, giving both sides a fortnight of white-ball cricket before India's squads turn to red-ball preparation for the New Zealand tour.
Shreyas Iyer captains India's T20I squad with Tilak Varma as his deputy, leading Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Mayank Yadav and Prince Yadav. Jasprit Bumrah has been rested for the format, and Washington Sundar was withdrawn from the squad after it was first announced, with Naman Dhir coming in as his replacement to prioritise red-ball preparation ahead of the Ranji Trophy season.
Shai Hope continues as West Indies' captain in the shorter format, leading Jewel Andrew, Roston Chase, Matthew Forde, Shimron Hetmyer, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Keemo Paul, Kamil Pooran, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Quentin Sampson, Romario Shepherd and Shamar Springer. Hope arrives with serious momentum after his unbeaten 162 chased down a record 352 in the final ODI at New Chandigarh — a knock that, while it came too late to prevent India winning the 50-over series, gives the tourists genuine belief heading into the T20Is.
Unlike the dead-rubber third ODI, every match in this T20I series carries direct weight, with both boards using the format partly to assess depth ahead of busier assignments later in the year — India's long New Zealand tour from October 22, and West Indies' own build-up through a packed white-ball calendar. India's top order, still buzzing from Shubman Gill's and KL Rahul's record-setting ODI form, will be without both of them in this squad, leaving the T20I batting to lean on Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and the uncapped Sooryavanshi to carry similar intent into the shortest format.
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Squad lists, fixture dates and the ODI series context in this article are verified against same-day and freshly re-checked reporting, current as of October 4, 2026.
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