The Windies, who were blanked 2-0 in a little under six days in the 2-Test series, will hope to compete better in the limited overs leg of their tour of India. The first ODI in the 5-match ODI series is scheduled to be played at Guwahati on Sunday, 21 October.
The India-Windies series opener will be played at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati, which will be hosting its first-ever ODI; it will become the 46th venue in India to host an ODI.
Despite their reputation of being a better side playing white ball cricket, this series could just be another mismatch. Team India are one of the most formidable sides going around and are in pursuit of the number one ranking; Virat Kohli's side is currently ranked number two in the 14-team rankings, while the visitors are ranked a lowly ninth.
In their last ODI assignment, the Indian team won the Asia Cup 2018 in the UAE, while the Windies lost the 3-match ODI series to Bangladesh at home.
Uphill Task for Windies
The Windies touring party wears a depleted look without the Bravo brothers, Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell and Narine. The team has been further jolted; firstly, coach Stuart Law has been handed a two-match ban and will sit out the first and second ODIs, and now most-recently Evin Lewis, who was expected to be the side's premier batsman, withdrew from the squad for personal reasons.
Consider this: the total experience of the 14 players making up the Indian squad stands at 1,237 ODI caps, while the entire Windies squad – which comprises 4 uncapped players – stands at 555 ODI caps. Further, the total runs scored in ODIs by all the players in the Windies squad adds up to 10,637; MS Dhoni (10,123) alone has nearly that number, while the Indian captain Virat Kohli (9,779) is not too far off!
Despite expectations that the Windies will compete better in the ODIs, a look back at history suggests one shouldn’t be too hopeful. The Windies haven’t won a bilateral ODI series against India since 2006; the last time the Windies won an ODI series in India since 2002.
Areas for India to Address
Though ranked number two, Team India still have one or two areas of concerns, and the forthcoming series provides the Indian selectors and the team management an opportunity to mend those areas of concern in the lead up to World Cup 2019.
The Indian line-up – as was seen in the Asia Cup 2018 – will most definitely undergo a change with the return of the captain Virat Kohli, who will occupy the number three position. Ambati Rayudu, who gave a pretty good account of himself at that position, can be seen slipping down to number four.
Then comes the problem area for India. Team India desperately needs to find
- players who can keep the game moving in the middle overs
- a finisher – a player who can provide the innings the final overs flourish or close off games in the team’s favour.
It feels strange to write that the Indian team needs a finisher when a certain MS Dhoni – ranked among the game’s greats – still figures in the line-up.
The fact though is Dhoni has not delivered the goods – not to the level of expectations set by his own performances in the past. Dhoni’s strike-rate in 10 knocks this year is a paltry 67.36 – a very poor number, considering that he used to be the team’s demolition man and was considered the world’s best finisher at one point in time.
Dhoni’s inability to turn the strike over, and play out a series of dot balls, gave one the impression that he was struggling to put the ball away. But then, one should be aware – and therefore allow leeway – that for champions like Dhoni, who have done it all and conquered most conquests, it is a question of motivation, of putting mind over matter.
The 21-year old Rishabh Pant – who has a strike-rate of 104.35 in one-day cricket – is a deserving selection in India’s 12 for the first ODI; the limited overs format is where the lad bats best. With Dhoni still in the mix, the Indian team management have perhaps included Pant as a specialist batsman – possibly as a finisher in the lower middle-order.
Ravindra Jadeja, recalled out of the blue for the Asia Cup, has thrown his name into the ring too – by impressing with both bat and ball; if he continues to score runs and pick wickets like he did in the UAE, he could present the selectors with a difficult selection decision when they sit down to pick the squad for the ten-team event in England next June.
India’s 12
Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (Captain), Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (Wicketkeeper), Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Khaleel Ahmed.
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