CHENNAI:
India will have their tails up when they play West Indies in the first One-day
International of the three-match rubber here on Sunday, seeking a 10th straight
bilateral ODI series win against the side from the Caribbean.
Highlights
Team India will miss the services of seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who is out with a groin problem and Shikhar Dhawan, who is yet to recover from the injury he suffered during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
- Shardul
Thakur, who plays for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, has been called up
as the replacement for the injured Bhuvneshwar
Both teams will have an eye on the weather after rains in
the last 24 hours.
The home team will miss the services of seamer Bhuvneshwar
Kumar, who is out with a groin problem and Shikhar Dhawan, who is
yet to recover from the injury he suffered during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
tournament.
Mumbai's Shardul
Thakur, who plays for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, has been
called up as the replacement for the injured Bhuvneshwar.
Virat Kohli's men have the momentum after winning the T20 series with a
splendid batting performance in Mumbai where Rohit Sharma
and K L Rahul, who is expected to continue as the opener in the absence of
Dhawan, and the captain himself displayed terrific form.
It remains to be seen if the team decides to hand Mayank
Agarwal a debut after he was drafted in as replacement for Dhawan. The
Karnataka batsman has been in top form in the Tests and has joined the national
team after featuring in the Ranji game against Tamil Nadu in Dindigul.
Shreyas Iyer has done well in the opportunities he has
received and is likely to be slotted at No. 4. Former captain Anil Kumble, too,
has favoured the Mumbai player batting at No.4 in the ODI series against the
the West Indies.
The position has been in the spotlight for a while now with
several players being tried, including Ambati Rayudu and Vijay Shankar, and
Iyer is in with a chance to make it his own.
The focus will be on
wicketkeeper-batsman Rishab Pant, who has been under fire for his unimpressive
performances with the bat and the big gloves. The first ODI could be another
chance for him to justify the faith shown by Kohli and the team management.
It will be interesting to see if the
spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav reunite after last playing
together in the World Cup, as the Chepauk surface is expected to aid the slow
bowlers.
The experienced Mohammed Shami and
Deepak Chahar will most probably form the pace attack and would face a stern
test against the aggressive West Indies batting line-up.
The visitors will be hoping that
big-hitting opener Evin Lewis, who suffered an injury while fielding in the
Mumbai T20, will be able to play a part in the ODI leg of the tour. Team
officials said he was being assessed ahead of the series opener.
The Windies batsmen have had a lot
of success in the T20s thanks to their ultra-aggressive approach but ODIs will
be a different ball game and as assistant coach Roddy Estwick stated the
batters need to focus on rotating the strike, which they did well in the series
against Afghanistan recently.
The onus will be on the WI batsmen
to not only go on attack mode first up but also keep wickets in hand to
accelerate in the back-end.
Shimron Hetmyer and Nicholas Pooran
have showed their abilities in the shortest format and need to display the same
in the 50-overs game too if the West Indies hopes to give India a run in this
series.
All-rounder Roston Chase is likely
to figure in the XI and could provide some stability to the line-up boasting of
several power-hitters.
Skipper Kieron Pollard, who has a
rather modest record in the ODIs, will have to lead by example and provide the
thrust in the slog overs.
Sheldon Cottrell will lead the
Caribbean bowling attack and will need to strike early if the team hopes to
restrict a formidable Indian batting unit with Rohit, Kohli and Rahul in
ominous form. The other pacers including former captain Jason Hoder will have
to step up as would the spinners.
Leggie Hayden Walsh Jr bowled well
in the T20s and has a big task at hand to contain Kohli & Co, known to be
adept at tackling spinners.
An intriguing battle is on hand with
the Indian team favourite to add the ODI series to the T20 win but the
unpredictable West Indies can spring a surprise or two.
Heavy overnight rain meant India's
training session on the eve of the opener was called off.
Teams
India: Virat
Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, Shreyas
Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (WK), Shivam Dube, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra
Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Shami, Shardul
Thakur.
West Indies: Kieron
Pollard (captain), Sunil Ambris, Shai Hope, Khary Pierre, Roston Chase, Alzarri
Joseph, Kieron Pollard (Captain), Sheldon Cottrell, Brandon King, Nicholas
Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Evin Lewis, Romario Shepherd, Jason Holder, Keemo
Paul, Hayden Walsh Jr.
Match starts at 1.30
PM
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Source: TOI
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