Ranchi hosts its first men's T20I in more than three years with spin set to shape the second game

Ranchi stages its first men's Twenty20 international since January 2023 on Friday, on a ground where no side has passed 196 in the format and where the previews cannot agree on what the surface will do

India and West Indies meet in the second T20I at the JSCA International Stadium Complex, with India 1-0 up in the five-match series after an eight-wicket win in the opener at Lucknow.

The venue has been absent from the T20I calendar for more than three years. Its last men's match in the format was against New Zealand on 27 January 2023, and the only international it has staged since was a one-day international against South Africa last November.

Its record in the format is short and low-scoring, which sits awkwardly alongside the batting conditions several previews expect on Friday evening.

A ground that has waited since 2023

The stadium opened to international cricket in January 2013, when India played England in a one-day international. Its first men's T20I followed in February 2016, against Sri Lanka.

Seven T20 internationals have been played there in all, a figure that includes the women's matches India and Sri Lanka contested in the same month of 2016.

That is a thin sample by the standards of India's established venues, which makes every number attached to the ground a rough guide rather than a settled one.

Runs have been hard to find here

The highest total in a T20 international at the ground remains India's 196 for 6 against Sri Lanka in February 2016. No side has passed it in the ten years since, and none has reached 200.

The highest successful chase is more modest still — India's 155 for 3 against New Zealand in 2021.

No batter has made a hundred here in the format. KL Rahul's 65 off 49 against New Zealand in 2021 is the best individual score, and Ravichandran Ashwin's 3-14 against Sri Lanka in 2016 the best bowling return.

The boundaries are long by Indian standards, which tends to reward batters who rotate the strike over those who try to clear the rope from the first ball they face.

Chasing has been the safer option

Sides bowling first have won four of the seven T20 internationals staged at the venue, and the previews expect the captain who wins the toss to field.

Dew is the other argument for chasing in October. Forecasts for Friday evening put the temperature between 22°C and 25°C under largely clear skies, with a light breeze and little prospect of rain.

The counterweight is the second-innings scoring rate, which has lagged the first across the ground's small sample. Estimates of a par score vary widely between previews, with those published this week settling between 160 and 175.

Previews split on what the pitch will do

One reading has the surface flat and good for batting early before it cracks and begins to assist the spinners, a familiar subcontinental pattern.

Another has it balanced from the outset, with swing and seam available to the new white ball in the powerplay and the slow bowlers taking over through the middle.

A third expects enough turn to keep Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav in India's side whatever else changes around them. The pair shared four wickets in Lucknow.

What the readings share is the middle overs, which every one of them has spin deciding — the phase in which the first match was settled.

Selection questions for both sides

India arrive with their captain in form. Shreyas Iyer made an unbeaten 102 from 43 balls in Lucknow, his maiden T20I century, and finished the chase inside 15 overs.

The open question is at the top of the order, where Sanju Samson's recent returns have drawn scrutiny and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is yet to be used in the series.

West Indies were 171 all out in the opener, having been 107 for 3, and need more from a top order in which Shai Hope and Sherfane Rutherford were the only half-centurions.

The head-to-head offers them little comfort: the sides have met 32 times in T20 internationals, India winning 21 and West Indies 10, with one match producing no result.

Play begins at 7pm IST, with India able to move two matches clear in the five-match series.

Catch the match live updates, highlights, and full match coverage on CricRadio. Get fast, accurate, and ad-free updates throughout the game. Download the CricRadio app from the Play Store to stay connected. You can also get the live scores of cricket series directly on the CricRadio website for real-time coverage.