Scotland has a total of around 30 full-time staff, who were already stressed by the Valentine’s Day Men’s Under 19 World and Women’s T20 World Cup qualifiers before this national relief. They have been working day and night for the past two weeks and have secured visas, kits and a new sponsor for their 15 basketball team.
Could be a real fixture for Scotland for much of the tournament, but they could easily challenge for the Super 8s.
Also one thing is that a West Indies team had started its campaign, which had defeated them in the 2022 World Cup. In that match, George Munsey and Mark Watt’s Scotland won in 42 balls. The circumstances will be very different in Kolkata, but Scotland can field nine players from the playing eleven that won that match.
To demonstrate
Scotland: lose, lose, win, win, lose (last 5 T20Is, games first) West: win, lose, lose, win, lose
These players will be kept an eye on: Brandon McMullan and Jason Holder
Scotland player Brandon McMullan showed his talent by scoring 60 runs in 34 balls against Australia in St. Lucia in the 2024 T20 World Cup, due to which the Australian team was in trouble. He has scored 95 runs in 39 balls against Namibia in the preparation for this season. McMullan, who has played for Saudi Arabia and Australia in South Africa, launched the franchise cricket competition in the UAE in time for the Christmas season. She is an important link in the Scotland team, who along with batting at number 3, also bowls fast in the powerplay.
When West Indies won the title a decade ago, Jason Holder was part of the team but did not compete. After this he tried a long tenure as Captain in which he achieved a lot. He is now a regular part of franchise cricket and took a record-breaking 97 T20 wickets in 2025. He features in the West Indies attack in India and is usually involved in the death overs along with the last overs of the powerplay.
Team News: Hetmyer available
Scotland’s full 15 squad squad is fit and available. This is no less than an achievement in such a short time. Their derivation line up is almost certain, but they have to make a splash with their derivation attack. Leg spinner Chris Greaves proved to be excellent in both the warm-up matches, so left-handed general Brad Currie can be included in his place for the new ball sharing.
scotland (Probable XI): 1 George Munsey, 2 Michael Jones, 3 Brendan McMullan, 4 Richie Berrington (capt), 5 Tom Bruce, 6 Matthew Cross (wk), 7 Michael Leask, 8 Chris Greaves, 9 Mark Watt, 10 Brad Wheel, 11 Safyan Cerf.
Shimron Hetmyer’s arrival in India was delayed by what the West Indies said was a minor visa issue, but he reached Kolkata on Friday. He is officially available for Saturday, but if Westy feels he is not ready, out of Fort Johnson Charles No. 3 could take his place. Jaden Seals, Shamar Joseph and Matthew Ford are vying for a spot on the Escorts’ offense.
Vestige (Expected playing XI): 1 Shay Hope (Catron and Ranger), 2 Brandon King, 3 Shimron Hetmyer/Johnson Charles, 4 Roston Chase, 5 Rovman Powell, 6 Sherfane Raderford, 7 Romario Shepherd, 8 Jason Holder, 9 Akil Hussain, 10 Gudakesh Pearl, 11 Jayden Seales.
pitch and doors
The start of the match at 3 pm means that the target will be chased in the second innings under floodlights. In the last three IPL seasons, five matches have been played over two days at Eden Gardens and all have been high-scoring. Of these, records were barely successful in defending three scores of over 200, while the targets of 162 and 180 were achieved very easily.
The average score of the first innings here in IPL 2025 was 199. Talking about the weather, the temperature is expected to be between 25 to 29 degrees Celsius and there is no possibility of rain.