It’s hurricane season in Grenada, but that rumbling you hear might not be the wind. It’s the Windies. Or rather, the juggernaut squad West Indies have assembled for their five-match T20I series against South Africa that will be played there from Saturday. No one on the planet has played more T20s than Kieron Pollard’s total of 540.

The closest is Dwayne Bravo, who has 477 caps in the format. Chris Gayle’s 424 earns him a share of the third spot. Andre Russell is a lowly ninth on the list with 356 appearances in this flavour of the game. They’re all in the home side’s dressingroom. Scarier still, if you’re South Africa, they haven’t played in the same T20I XI for six years.

Here’s another reason for the home side to be cheerful: the sole survivor in the T20I group from the side that suffered the rude awakening of being beaten 2-0 by the South Africans in the Test series in St Lucia is Jason Holder. In itself, that tells us a lot about the depth the West Indians have in this format. South Africa will look at the equation differently, of course. Of the players who were in their unchanged XI for the Tests, only Dean Elgar, Keegan Petersen and Keshav Maharaj have gone home.

As Temba Bavuma told an online press conference on Friday, “As much as it was a different format, a number of those guys are involved in the T20I stuff, so it’s only natural that they will carry that confidence into this series.” Bavuma himself has been living in interesting times. Having missed the Tests with a hip strain and the second because of a dislocated finger, he has been passed fit to take charge for the first time since he was appointed South Africa’s white-ball captain in March.

His team are likely to need his calm presence on the field as they try to keep the lid on West Indies’ heavy hitters. Thus the series will be a test of where both teams are in their preparations for the T20I World Cup in October and November. Unconfirmed reports that the tournament will be moved from India to the UAE only add a layer of context to the rubber.

If they prove to be true, West Indies and South Africa will be able to measure themselves in conditions that are closer to what they would face on the global stage than would be the case of the World Cup stays in India. The past two days have been wet in Grenada, and a 67% chance of rain has been forecast for Saturday.

But the weather doesn’t often get in the way when the officials can whittle down the overs to a tiny number and still call it a contest. A hurricane would change things, naturally. A hurricane from the skies above, that is – not one whipped up by the maroon marauders.

That seems more likely, and would be just as awesome to see as the other kind. South Africa:Temba Bavuma is back from the hip and finger injuries that kept him out of the Test series. Dwaine Pretorius has been removed from the equation by Covid-19. Wiaan Mulder has been retained from the Test squad as Pretorius’ replacement, and Beuran Hendricks added as cover.

“We have the best T20 players in the world, no doubt about it. But once we can play our roles exactly as the team requires we will put up some scores. It’s not guaranteed, but once we do the right things then we are giving ourselves the best chance.” – Nicholas Pooran finds another way to say there’s no ‘I’ in team. “West Indies are an obvious favourite when it comes to the T20 World Cup. It’s fortunate that we are able to test our skills against their skills, and it will give the guys a clearer understanding of what needs to be done come the World Cup.” – Temba Bavuma braces himself for a tough challenge. (cricbuzz)