Rohit Sharma declared "experimentation is overrated" ahead of India's three-match T20 International series against West Indies.

With another T20 World Cup on the horizon in Australia this year, India and the Windies are determined to show what they are capable of after failing in the 2021 tournament.

Rohit led India to a 3-0 ODI clean sweep of West Indies this month and their expectant supporters will be demanding another whitewash.

India have won eight of their past nine matches against the Windies in the shortest format heading into the series-opener at Eden Gardens on Wednesday.

Washington Sundar and KL Rahul miss out due to hamstring injuries, while Axar Patel will not feature in the series as he is in the final stage of his rehabilitation after recently recovering from coronavirus.

Skipper Rohit is no mood to experiment as he looks to continue the white-ball momentum.

He said: "I feel the word experimentation is overrated, in my terms. We are trying to find those holes that are there in the squad and try and fill that gap. So whatever it takes, we will try and do that.

"All these guys [the fringe players] are very young and haven't played a lot of cricket. We need to give them the assurity and the game time.

"Once we have that, then we can try out things. Until then, whatever little holes we have in our squad, we have to try and fill that."

The Windies were outplayed in the 50-over format, but beat England 3-2 in a thrilling T20I series on home soil last month and named an unchanged squad to face India.

Rohit backs Kohli 

It is over two years since Virat Kohli score an international hundred, but Rohit says the former captain should not be questioned. 

The opener said: "If you guys [the media] can keep quiet for a while, I think he'll be alright. We don't need to do too much talking from your side, then everything will be taken care of. He is in a great mental space from whatever I see of him.

"He has been part of this international team for more than a decade. If someone has spent that much time in international cricket, they know how to handle the pressure situations, the environment, everything. It all starts from you guys. If you guys can keep it quiet for a bit, then everything will fall into place."

Pollard fit to lead tourists

Kieron Pollard was an injury doubt after suffering a niggle in the ODI series, but the captain confirmed he will be fit for the start of this series.

Pollard will be hoping former skipper Jason Holder can conjure up more heroics after his stunning exploits with the ball in the decider against England in Barbados last month.

The all-rounder took four wickets in as many balls in the final over to finish with figure of 5-27.

West Indies captain Kieron Pollard insists the team is nowhere close to being ready to give up on talented batsman Shimron Hetmyer, despite the player’s recently well-documented struggles with fitness.

The 25-year-old batsman was left out of the West Indies' previous series against Ireland and England and also failed to be included in the squad for the ongoing India tour.  The issue stemmed from the fact that the player failed to achieve the basic fitness standards required to be eligible for selection.

It was not the first time Hetmyer had been plagued by the issue as he also failed to get a passing mark in 2020, ahead of the team’s tour of Sri Lanka, and then again later that same year during Sri Lanka’s tour of the West Indies.  The Windies skipper, however, backs the player to get things right in the near future.

"I think the coaches have spoken on their assessment of Shimron. I miss Shimron when he is not around. He is a young player and a superstar in his own right. He will get it right and get back to the West Indies squad pretty soon. I will be looking forward to having him," Pollard told members of the media, ahead of the team’s first T20I against India.

"We know what he can do as an individual and he has a bright future. You can never write off a guy who is 25. My love for Shimron is paramount, and he knows that and we all know that. It is a matter of time for him to do all that is necessary to get back to the team. We will welcome him with open arms."

Cricket West Indies (CWI)has offered congratulations to the West Indies players chosen in the auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) which was conducted in Bengaluru on Saturday and Sunday.

Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo are into the final of the 2022 Bangladesh Premier League after Fortune Barishal defeated Sunil Narine’s Comilla Victorians by 10 runs in the first qualifier in Mirpur on Monday.

Barishal posted 143-8 off their 20 overs after Comilla captain Imrul Kayes called right at the toss and put them in to bat.

Barishal can attribute their total to opener Munim Shariar who top-scored with a 30-ball 44 that included two fours and four sixes.

Gayle played another uncharacteristically reserved innings to be the second highest scorer for Barishal with 22 off 19 balls with four fours while Bravo added some crucial late runs with 17 off 21 balls with only one six.

Shohidul Islam was the pick of the Comilla bowlers with 3-25 off three overs while Moeen Ali supported well with 4-23 from his four.

A 62-run opening partnership between Liton Das and Mahmudul Hasan Joy had the Victorians thinking they had one foot in the final before it all went downhill.

The partnership ended in the 11^th over when Joy was dismissed for 20 before Imrul Kayes was also walking back just one over later for just five.

That 12^th over, bowled by Shafiqul Islam, proved to be the most important of the innings as he also dismissed Das for 38 to leave the Victorians 68-3 and in a spot of bother.

None of the other batsmen seemed to find any rhythm at the crease with Faf Du Plessis (21), Moeen Ali (22), and Sunil Narine (17) the only remaining batsmen to reach double figures.

The Victorians were eventually restricted to 133-7 off their 20 overs thanks to Shafiqul’s crucial 2-16 off four overs.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman (2-33 from four overs) and Mehedi Hasan Rana (2-15 from three overs) bowled well in support while Dwayne Bravo also had 1-26 from his four overs.

Fortune Barishal will now advance to the final which will be played on Friday while Comilla will have another opportunity to get there when they play the Chattogram Challengers in the second qualifier on Wednesday.

Forty-eight hours after Andre Fletcher scored an unbeaten 101 to get Khulna Tigers into the playoffs of the Bangladesh Premier League, his unbeaten 80 was not enough to prevent them from getting knocked out, as they lost by seven runs to Chattogram Challengers.

Needing 16 from the final over bowled by Mehidy Hasan Miraz in pursuit of 190, Khulna Tigers only managed to eight runs. Miraz bowled a yorker-filled over that yielded a boundary by Fletcher and four singles before taking the wicket of Thisara Perera for three with the last ball of the match.

The Grenadian, who hit six fours and four sixes in his 58-ball knock that threatened to lead his side to another remarkable victory, got support from Mushfiqur Rahim, who scored 43 from 29 balls. Together they put on 64 for the third wicket that took the score from 43-2 after Mahedi Hasan and Soumya Sarkar were dismissed for, two and one, respectively.

Fletcher and Yasir Ali then put together a stand of 65 for the fourth wicket. Yasir hit two fours and four sixes in his 24-ball 45 that took Khulna Tigers within touching distance of the target with nine balls remaining.

Miraz finished with 2-40.

Earlier, it was Chadwick Walton’s unbeaten 89 that helped Chattogram Challengers to their score of 189-5.

The Jamaican hit seven fours and seven sixes in his 44-ball knock that rescued Chattogram Challengers from a precarious 65-4 in the 10^th over. Other useful contributions came from Walton’s compatriot Kennar Lewis, who opened the batting with an uncharacteristically sedate 39 from 32 balls.

Miraz scored 36 from 30 late in the innings that helped Walton take Chattogram Challengers to their winning score.

In January, after Romario Shepherd smashed an unbeaten 44 from just 28 balls to take the West Indies within one run of England’s total of 171, he revealed that he hoped his heroics would get him noticed for the upcoming IPL Mega Auction that was held this weekend.

For the past three years, Shepherd had registered for the draft in the richest T20 league in the world but there were no takers. However, he never gave up hope.

"Eventually, if an IPL contract comes, that would be great for me. I'm not saying that I don't think about it - I do think about it, but I try not to think about it during a game,” he said then.

"It's a great platform. For any youngster, it's their dream to go to the IPL and I'm no different. I'm trying my best to get myself in there. It's something that I've dreamed about for a very long time. My name was in the [auction] for the last three years, so this year, I'm looking forward to it."

That dream became reality on Sunday when during the second day of the auction, he was sold to the Sunrisers Hyderabad for a whopping US$1.03 million dollars.

His was the highest bid for a West Indies player on the second day when several Caribbean players were the beneficiaries of six-figure contracts for the 2022 season of the Indian Premier League.

The big-hitting allrounder Odean Smith, who also made an impression during the series against England, was sold to the Punjab Kings for approximately US$798,000 while Rovman Powell was sold to the Delhi Capitals for US$345,000.

Evin Lewis, who missed the series was sold to the Lucknow Super Giants for US$266,000. Dominic Drakes was told to the Gujarat Titans for US$146,000 and Sherfane Rutherford will join the Royal Challengers Bangalore for US$133,000.

Fabian Allen went for US$99,000 to the Mumbai Indians.

Andre Fletcher scored an unbeaten 100 to lead Khulna Tigers to a nine-wicket victory over Comilla Victorians on Saturday and a place in the play-offs of the Bangladesh Premier League.

Australia held on for victory in the second T20I against Sri Lanka despite the tourists forcing a super over with a thrilling run chase.

Having won the opener – also in Sydney – by 20 runs, Sunday's match looked to be in Australia's control after they posted 164-6 after batting first.

Captain Aaron Finch (25) and 48 from Josh Inglis carried the hosts to 112-4 before late flurries from Marcus Stoinis (19) and Matthew Wade, who hit 13 off just four deliveries.

After Danushka Gunathilaka thumped a Josh Hazlewood ball straight to the waiting Ben McDermott, Inglis leapt to his left to catch a drive from Avishka Fernando in the third over, and Sri Lankan hopes looked forlorn indeed when Pat Cummins skittled Charith Asalanka for a duck.

Yet Pathum Nissanka maintained composure to build Sri Lanka's score. He smashed 73 off only 53 balls, including nine boundaries, while captain Dasun Shanaka added 34 from 19 deliveries before being run out by a brilliant Steve Smith throw.

It was Stoinis who eventually ended Nissanka's stand, his full toss swung towards deep square where Cummins claimed a fine catch, but Maheesh Theekshana promptly hit a six from the next ball despite Smith nearly concussing himself in a desperate attempt to save it.

In an extraordinary finish, Dushmantha Chameera then thumped another full toss from Stoinis straight down the ground for four to force the eliminator, for which Hazlewood was chosen for the Australia attack.

It proved a wise choice. Sri Lanka managed 5-1, with Dinesh Chandimal run out by Glenn Maxwell, allowing Stoinis to settle the contest with consecutive fours.

Unlucky Sri Lanka can take heart

Sri Lanka have now lost seven T20I matches in a row against Australia and have only one win from 15 in the format when playing outside Asia.

They are unlikely to get much closer to victory than this. Needing 46 off the final 18 balls, they managed 45, while fortune was against them when Chameera's final strike fell just short of a six after a wide had not been called on the penultimate delivery.

Hazlewood shines in super over

Nissanka kept Sri Lanka's hopes alive, but Hazlewood ended them clinically in the super over with some expert deliveries.

"I just kept a nice clear mind," said Hazlewood, who finished with figures of 3-22. "[I] had a chat with Finchy and came up with a plan of what I wanted to do. The confidence is high at the moment and [it is] nice to execute."

The Guyana Harpy Eagles held on for a narrow one-wicket win over the Windward Volcanoes as the West Indies Championship encounter at the Queen's Park Oval came to a thrilling conclusion on Saturday.

Resuming the day on 157 for 7, with Larry Edward (29) and Kenneth Dember (9) the batsmen at the crease, the Windwards could only manage another 33 runs before they were all out for 190 in the 64 overs.  Dember was the first to be dismissed after managing to add just 5 to his overnight total, before being caught by Anthony Bramble off Veerasammy Permaul.

Edward briefly partnered with Preston McSween to add 17 for the 9^th wicket, but that did not last long as Edward was next to depart, caught by Hetmyer off Permaul for 43.  McSween could not repeat the heroics of the first innings and followed soon after.   Permaul finished the innings with figures of 53 for 5.

 The tally meant Guyana needed 203 for victory.  The Eagles seemed well set to reach the target as they coasted to 89 without loss on the back of a smooth 60 from 72 balls from Chandrapaul Hemraj and Tagenarine Chanderpaul (28).

The bowling of off-spinner Kenneth Dember threw a wrench in those proceedings as he claimed 5-80 and triggered a collapse.  The Eagles slipped to 140-6 and then 183-9.

Permaul, however, played a crucial, steady innings late on with an unbeaten knock of 20 which pushed the Eagles to the target.  Vishaul Singh added 24 with Leon Johnson 21 and Clinton Pestano 20 also making handy contributions.

An assured 71 not out from veteran left-hander Jonathan Carter ensured the Barbados Pride secured a four-wicket win over the Leeward Islands Hurricanes on day four of their West Indies Championship fixture at the Kensington Oval on Saturday.

The Hurricanes entered day four on 294-7 in their second innings, leading the Pride by 142 runs.

They batted sensibly to eventually get to 346 all out off 109.2 overs with Devon Thomas getting a magnificent 112 off 140 balls, including 17 fours.

He was well supported by Keacy Carty who got 52 and captain Jahmar Hamilton who got 47, against 4-64 off 21 overs by debutant Ramon Simmonds.

Set 195 for victory, Barbados had a decent start before Carter anchored a fairly comfortable chase with his 71 not out, coming off 131 balls, including five fours and two sixes.

He was well supported by Raymon Reifer who got 45 and captain Kraigg Brathwaite who got 29 in the chase that saw the Pride end on 195-6.

Jeremiah Louis was the pick of the Hurricanes bowlers in the second innings with 4-50 off 14 overs.

Final scores: Leeward Islands Hurricanes 172-9 declared and 346, Barbados Pride 324 and 195-6.

Stuart Broad has hit out at his omission from England's squad for the upcoming Test series against the West Indies, from which James Anderson is also absent.

England's all-time leading Test wicket-takers Broad and Anderson have been left out of the squad for next month's tour after a dismal Ashes series led to the departure of head coach Chris Silverwood.

Interim managing director of cricket Andrew Strauss, interim coach Paul Collingwood, and head scout James Taylor made up a three-man selection committee ahead of the series, which begins in Antigua on March 8, and have settled on a 16-man squad that does not include either of the seamers.

Despite Strauss contending that there was a way back for both bowlers, who have taken 1,177 Test wickets between them, Broad has used his newspaper column to hit out at the decision.

"I have to confess that I wasn't expecting the phone call I received from Andrew Strauss on Tuesday that started with him saying: 'I've got some bad news'," Broad wrote in the Daily Mail.

"I am waking up more confused and angrier with each passing day. I feel gutted. 

"Do I need to prove myself again? In my mind, I've nothing to prove. I am a proven performer, so it is now about the English cricketing summer and targeting the home series against New Zealand in June."

The 35-year-old pace bowler, whose tally of 73 career Test wickets against the West Indies is only beaten by Anderson's 87 amongst active players, also moved to defend his recent England performances and denied that any behind-the-scenes unrest had contributed to the decision.

"I could take being dropped if I had let my standards slip but being overlooked when they haven't is another thing," Broad's column continued.

"I am struggling to put things into context. It's hard to do so when all you've had is a five-minute phone call.

"If I had spoken to one person who had said they agreed with the decision to leave myself and Jimmy out, I could perhaps begin to understand. 

"Do I believe I warrant a place in England's best team? Of course, I do.

"People will ask if there has therefore been some fall-out behind the scenes, a bit of a rumble during the Ashes, but I can categorically say that is not the case. Hence, neither Jimmy nor I saw this coming. We were blindsided."

England's last series win in the West Indies came back in 2003-04.

The Trinidad and Tobago Red Force survived a second-innings collapse to secure a three-wicket victory over Jamaica Scorpions on day four of their West Indies Championship fixture at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy on Saturday.

The Red Force entered the fourth day 22-0, needing only 59 more runs to win with Keagan Simmons on 11 and Isaiah Rajah on eight.

Marquino Mindley got the ball rolling for the Scorpions on the final day with two wickets in quick succession to leave the Red Force 40-2.

The hosts then inexplicably lost four wickets for three runs to find themselves in a dogfight at 60-6.

Captain Imran Khan arrived at the crease and brought stability to the innings before they lost another wicket to find themselves 69-7.

Khan then combined with Anderson Phillip to bring the score to 81-7 and secure a three-wicket victory.

Simmons was the Red Force top scorer in the second innings with 38, while the Jamaican fightback was led by spin with Jamie Merchant taking 3-18 from 10.4 overs and Patrick Harty taking 2-21 from nine overs.

Final Scores: Jamaica Scorpions 141 and 212, Trinidad and Tobago Red Force 273 and 81-7.

Attacking left-hander Nicholas Pooran was the most expensive West Indian purchase at the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) auction which began on Saturday.

Pooran went to the Sunrisers Hyderabad franchise for 10.75 crore (USD 1.43 million).

The Sunrisers will be his third IPL franchise after previously representing the Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings.

Jason Holder, formerly of the Sunrisers, will be suiting up for the new Lucknow Super Giants after being snapped up for 8.5 crore (USD 1.16 million).

Dwayne Bravo and Shimron Hetmyer were the only other West Indians sold on day 1 to the Chennai Super Kings for 4.4 crore (USD 583,953.04) and the Rajasthan Royals for 8.5 crore, respectively.

Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, and West Indies white-ball captain Kieron Pollard were all retained by their respective franchises before the auction.

Indian left-hander Ishan Kishan had the honour of being the most expensive pick-up of this year’s auction after going to the Mumbai Indians for 15.25 crore (USD 2.03 million).

Day 2 of the auction takes place on Sunday.

Vishaul Singh fell just short of a 9^th first-class 100 but led a brilliant Guyana Harpy Eagles fightback, which left the game against the Windward Volcanoes very much in the balance heading into Saturday's final day.

At the close of play, the Windwards batting a second time were 157 for 7 with Larry Edward (29) and Kenneth Dember (9) the batsmen at the crease.  Asked to bat again, the Windwards found the going hard early on as the typically dependable Devon Smith was dismissed for a duck in the first over, bowled by Nial Smith.  They lost Teddy Bishop (15), the team’s other opener, soon after, to leave the score at 20 for 2. 

Alrick Athanaze maintained his good form for the match after first hunkering down at the crease with Kavem Hodge to briefly stop the rot.  Hodge was, however, uprooted when he was dismissed lbw off the bowling of Keemo Paul for 15.  Keron Cottoy added 12 before being dismissed by Clinton Pestano and Denis Smith added just four runs before departing two overs later with the score at 77 for 5, after also falling victim to Pestano.

Veerasammy Permaul delivered the crucial wicket of Athanaze, who made 58, in the 29^th over with the team struggling at 125 for 7.  Paul, Permaul, and Pestano have so far taken two wickets each with Smith claiming one.

Earlier, resuming the day at 181 – 5, still trailing the Winwards first innings tally of 339 by 155 runs, Singh held the Harpy Eagles innings together along with Paul as the pair put on a solid 146 for the 6^th wicket to change the complexion of the match.  Paul was eventually dismissed, after putting 77 on the board, when he was trapped lbw by Kenneth Dember. Singh departed two overs later, just seven runs short of a century when he was stumped by Smith off Dember.  With the score then at 290 for 7, the team added another 37 runs to move to within 12 of the total.

West Indies coach Phil Simmons has admitted the team's persistent and obvious struggles with the bat are hurtful, particularly as he believes the unit had started to show improvement last year.

Despite commendable performances from its bowling line-up, the Windies batting line-up continued to struggle for yet another series after going down 3-0 to India on Thursday.  At the crease, in South Asia, the team at times looked ill-prepared or unable to find the resolve or technical ability needed to put partnerships together at crucial times or cope with the India bowlers for any prolonged period.

Similar to its performance against Ireland last month, where they lost an ODI series against that opponent for the first time, the Windies looked, perhaps more than ever, susceptible to losing wickets in huge clusters, which made it impossible to chase even modest targets.  In three matches, the team failed to reach 200 with its highest score of 193 coming in an all-out effort in the second match, in pursuit of 237 for 9.

For the batsmen, it was Jason Holder who led the way with a modest 65 over three matches, followed by Nicholas Pooran with 61, while lower-order all-rounder Odean Smith had 60.  By comparison, India’s top three featured Kuldeep Yadav who made 104 in three matches, Rishabh Pant made 85, while Shreyas Iyer made 80 in just one match.  Overall, the India batting line-up, which chased a low target in the first match, outscored the West Indies line-up by 148 runs.

“This is difficult, the last six games have been difficult in this format.  We started putting things together last year when we played Sri Lanka, it was difficult against Australia, but we started putting things together.  For this (type of performance) to come now, it’s hard to take, it’s hard to take from the batsmen,” Simmons told members of the media on Thursday.

“It’s not outwardly showing, but it’s hurtful and the players know that.  We have to make sure that we do the right things moving forward to get this batting line-up or whoever the batting line-up is to function as a batting line-up, to have big partnerships and assess the thing properly.”

The team’s highest partnership of the series was a 78 run seventh-wicket stand between Fabian Allen and Jason Holder.  Overall, the majority of the team’s biggest partnerships came from batting places below the 5^th wicket.

“The mode of dismissals is the biggest issue.  If we are assessing the situation and we are playing according to the situation, and you get out then that’s execution.  But not assessing the situation and knowing what you want to do in the situations and the modes of dismissal it’s hurtful, and it doesn’t make for good watching as we’ve seen.  It’s something the players have to sit and get right as soon as possible.  We can’t keep going like this.”