India vs West Indies – ODI and T20 expectations
IND vs WI: 5 ODI Series
The upcoming 5 match Day-Night ODI series starts from October 21 and ends on 1st of November.
Here’s the complete schedule for ODI series:
1st ODI, (D/N) at Guwahati, 21 October 2018
2nd ODI, (D/N) at Visakhapatnam, 24 October 2018
3rd ODI, (D/N) at Pune, 27 October 2018
4th ODI, (D/N) at Mumbai, 29 October 2018
5th ODI, (D/N) at Thiruvananthapuram, 1 November 2018
The last time India played a 5 match ODI series against West Indies at home was way back in 2011 that India won 4-1. Virender Sehwag scored a memorable double hundred in that series.
The last ODI series that happened between these two teams in India was also way back in 2014 that India won 2-1. India has not lost a home ODI series against West Series since 2002 when they lost the 7-match series by 3-4.
India have picked up in-form Rishabh pant for first two ODIs in place of Dinesh Karthik. He will make the ODI debut at Guwahati. He will not take the gloves though. That responsibility will lie with Dhoni. Virat Kohli will be back as the captain of the team.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah have been rested. Kedar Jadhav and Hardik Pandya would have to sit out being injured. Looking at his recent injury Shardul Thakur may not play in the ODIs.
Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine, Chris Gayle, Andre Russell have not been picked for the West Indies ODI team. In their absence, Hemraj Chanderpaul will get the opportunity to open for West Indies whereas all-rounder Fabian Allen and fast bowler Oshane Thomas would try to cement their places.
India ODI Squad: Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni (wk), Rishabh Pant, R Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Khaleel Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, KL Rahul
West Indies ODI squad: Jason Holder (c), Fabian Allen, Sunil Ambris, Devendra Bishoo, Chanderpaul Hemraj, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Evin Lewis, Ashley Nurse, Keemo Paul, Rovman Powell, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels, Oshane Thomas
IND vs WI: 3 T20I Series
The T20I series consisting of 3 matches will start from 4th November and ends on 11 November.
Here’s the complete schedule for T20I series:
1st T20I, (N) at Kolkata, 4 November 2018
2nd T20I, (N) at Lucknow, 6 November 2018
3rd T20I, (N) at Chennai, 11 November 2018
Unlike ODI West Indies have a much better record against India in T20I. These two teams have played only 8 T20Is among them. West Indies won 5 of them with one match abandoned.
West Indies are current T20 World Champions. Their players play for various franchises across the world making them a very difficult team to beat in T20.
Having said that the absence of Chris Gayle would make things tricky for them at the top of the order. Even the absence of T20 match-winning all-rounders Dwyane Bravo and Andre Russell would render the middle and lower middle order slightly weak. It does create opportunities for new players though to make a mark for the West Indies.
The inclusion of Kieron Pollard and Darren Bravo would provide some strength to the squad. Both, however, haven’t played for the West Indies for a considerable amount of time.
India have not announced their T20 squad yet, but that squad would most likely be a subset of ODI team with perhaps the inclusion of Jaydev Unadkat in place of Mohammed Shami. Bowlers Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah are likely to continue to be rested.
India T20I Squad (probable): Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni (wk), Rishabh Pant, R Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Khaleel Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, KL Rahul
West Indies T20I squad: Carlos Brathwaite (c), Fabian Allen, Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer, Evin Lewis, Obed McCoy, Ashley Nurse, Keemo Paul, Khary Pierre, Kieron Pollard, Rovman Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Andre Russell, Sherfane Rutherford, Oshane Thomas
Team setup looks inexperienced for West Indies and looking at the prowess India possess at Home or otherwise, it will be a very daunting task for the guests to churn out a win. But this also gives West Indies a good opportunity to test the newcomers on the way to the preparation for World Cup 2019.
On the other hand, with Virat Kohli back to the squad as captain India would look to continue their preparations for World Cup 2019 and to sort out the middle order conundrum.
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