India vs West Indies, World T20 Semis: Mahendra Singh Dhoni's Men Have The Momentum

The India versus West Indies World T20 semifinal in Mumbai on Thursday will throw up a fascinating battle between two good friends and two in-form teams. (World T20: India's Weapons For Semi-Finals Are Virat Kohli and Spin)

Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle both play for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and have been known to be good friends. (Yuvraj Singh Ruled Out of T20 World Cup Due to Injury, Manish Pandey Comes In)

Going by history, India might have the slight advantage, having beaten the Caribbean outfit in recent times. However, the West Indies have a two to one win-loss record against MS Dhoni's India in ICC World T20s. WT20: West Indies Dangerous, Virat Kohli Tall on Confidence, Says Sir Viv Richards)

Let's recap the T20 battles between these two teams:

Indian players congratulate Dwayne Bravo of West Indies (right) after he hits the winning runs during the Super 8 stage of the ICC World Twenty20 Cup.

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1. June 12, 2009 - Lord's (ICC World T20) - Bravo Dances Circles Around India

This date marked the first occasion when these two teams played each other in the shortest format of the game. India, who were the defending champions going into the tournament, were completely outclassed by a high-flying Windies and there was one man, who shone throughout the match. (India vs West Indies, World T20 Semifinal: Virat Kohli or Chris Gayle, Who Will Come up Trumps?)

Dwayne Bravo had a game of a lifetime! India had elected to bat and made a jittery start - reduced to 66 for four. Yuvraj Singh came to the rescue smashing 67 off 43 balls to power India to 153 for seven with Bravo accounting for four Indian wickets. (World T20: "Heard of Chris Gayle?" West Indies' response to the Virat factor)

Dangerman Chris Gayle failed to really get going and fell to the innocuous off-spin of Yusuf Pathan. With Windies 42 for two, MS Dhoni definitely must have sniffed a chance but that was all quashed by Lendl Simmons (44 off 37) and Bravo (66 not out off 36).

In the end, the West Indies cantered to a seven-wicket win with eight balls to spare.

Chris Gayle smashed 98 off 66 balls to decimate India at Kensington Oval.

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2. May 9, 2010 - Kensington Oval (ICC World T20) - Gayle Storm Hits Barbados

It was trial by bounce for the Indians at Bridgetown and the 2007 champions found themselves like hopping bunnies against the West Indian pacers. However, before all that, a marauding Gayle beat the pulp out of the Indian bowlers, smashing 98 off 66 balls, falling two short of a record second century in World T20s.

West Indies posted 169 for six, which would prove to be too much for the Indians. The host pacers sent down a barrage of short-pitched deliveries at India, and the batsmen were found wanting.

Suresh Raina, who had smashed a century in the group stage match against South Africa, put up a brief fight but the others just didn't show enough spine. India were restricted to 155 for nine and fell to their second successive defeat of the Super 8s.

West Indies batsmen struggled against Harbhajan, Ravichandran Ashwin and Yusuf Pathan.

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3. June 4, 2011 - Queen's Park Oval (India tour of West Indies) - Spinners Choke Windies

The only T20 of India's tour of the West Indies, and the away team finally managed to get a win against the Windies. After being put into bat, India were once again having batting difficulties. With India 56 for four, Subramaniam Badrinath (43 off 37) and Rohit Sharma (26 off 23) managed to pull their team out of the rut and helped them post a fighting 159 for six.

After losing two early wickets, Bravo once again came to the party against India, with a gritty 41 off 41 balls. He and Marlon Samuels (27) put on 66 runs for the third wicket and threatened to take the match away from the Indians. However, Harbhajan Singh had other ideas. He dismissed both Bravo and Samuels and kept an iron grip over the rest to choke the Windies into submission.

The West Indian batsmen just couldn't get the Indian spinners away with Harbhajan, Ravichandran Ashwin and Yusuf Pathan bowling 12 overs between them - giving away just 77 runs and picking three wickets. The Windies finally managed 143 for five, falling short by 16 runs.

Virat Kohli scored 41 as he shared a 106-run stand with Rohit Sharma to decimate West Indies' bowling line-up.

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4. March 23, 2014 - Sher-e-Bangla Stadium, Mirpur (ICC World T20) - Windies Outclassed and Outplayed

India finally broke West Indies' hegemony over them in World T20s by putting in a masterful display at a sluggish pitch at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur. Indians spinners started the rut for the Windies and the latter never recovered. Gayle (34 off 33) gave his team a solid start but post that, it was a performance of how not to play spin.

Amit Mishra, Ravindra Jadeja and Ashwin had a field day - accounting for six off the seven Windies wickets to fall on the day. The West Indies finally stuttered to 129 for seven.

India lost Shikhar Dhawan in the very first over but that didn't deter Rohit Sharma (62 off 55) and Virat Kohli (41). The duo strung together a 106-run stand for the second wicket to take India to the brink. India did have a few heart-in-the-mouth moments after the two were dismissed but reached their target with seven wickets remaining and two balls to spare.