Guwahati: A formidable India will hope to get more answers for their unresolved middle-order puzzle when they take on a reeling West Indies in the five-match ODI series starting here Sunday.
The World Cup in England is just less than eight months away and the Men in blue have just 18-odd games left to decide their middle order, mainly the No.4 position. This series will also mark skipper Virat Kohli’s return to white-ball cricket who skipped India’s triumphant campaign in Asia Cup.
While the top-three select themselves, the spotlight will also be on Ambati Rayudu and Rishabh Pant in the No.4 and No.5 positions respectively. Pant will be in slightly more in pressure who has been brought in the side as a ‘specialist batsman’ at the expense of Dinesh Karthik.
The focus once again will be on former skipper MS Dhoni, whose batting ability is on the wane with limited playing time in the middle while Ravindra Jadeja, back in the side after a string of good performances lately will look after the all-round department in the absence of injured Hardik Pandya.
In bowling, the potent duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal will head the spin department while fast bowlers Mohammad Shami and an in-form Umesh Yadav will share the workload in the absence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, who have been rested for the first two games. Rookie left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed is also expected to get a chance.
On the other hand, West Indies will have many a problems to handle. Dynamic opener Evin Lewis has withdrawn from the ODI series citing personal reasons, dealing another blow to the side which is already missing Chris Gayle and Andre Russell.
Though the side have veterans like Marlon Samuels, captain and all-rounder Jason Holder and pacer Kemar Roach, it will be interesting to see how the young team perform against their mighty opponents.
- 221 – Runs Virat Kohli is away from taking the least innings to reach 10,000 ODI runs. Kohli has 9779 runs from 183 innings while the record belongs to Sachin Tendulkar (259 innings)
- 177- Runs Shikhar Dhawan needs to become the fastest Indian to score 5,000 ODI runs
