After Thiruvananthapuram, the India-West Indies ODI series moves to Guwahati, and while this is a dramatic shift in landscape- from the south-western tip of India to the north-east- the objectives for the two teams don’t change that much.
Both teams, first of all, will want to win- India to seal the series, West Indies to stay alive.
The next priority, for India, is about getting another step closer to figuring out their best 15 for the 2027 World Cup in southern Africa. They began this series with an interesting combination featuring three all-rounders and only three specialist bowlers, and look set to continue with that set-up in Guwahati.
Will Nitish Kumar Reddy continue to get the new ball? How will Naman Dhir’s offbreaks hold up for a second successive ODI? And with Axar Patel away at the Asian Games, can Ravindra Jadeja make a big push to stay in the World Cup conversation?
For West Indies, there is a World Cup Qualifier in February-March to build towards. And to that end, they will want to build on the positives from Thiruvananthapuram, and put in more rounded performances over the rest of this series.
They showed great promise with the bat in that first ODI, but they’ll want to show they can do it again, and do it across all phases of an innings.
And they’ll definitely want to show more wicket-taking teeth with the ball – to this end they could look at sacrificing some of their batting depth to bring in either Shamar Joseph or the left-arm wrist-spinner Vitel Lawes.
In the spotlight
Since his debut in May 2022, Keacy Carty is the second-highest ODI run-getter for West Indies behind his captain Shai Hope, and his 1,827 runs have come at an impressive average of 40.60.
His strike rate of 75.12, however, is the third-worst of all batters with 1,500-plus runs in this period, and his slow start in Thiruvananthapuram, where he made 13 off 31 balls, contributed to India’s fightback after Greaves and John Campbell had put on 135 at more than seven an over.
Carty’s talent – as shown by twin hundreds against England and a match-winning 95 earlier this year against New Zealand – isn’t in question, but he will want to add more gears to his game to help West Indies step up to the next level as an ODI team.
Nitish Kumar Reddy began the first ODI with a 17-run over, overpitching frequently and getting hit for four fours by Justin Greaves. This was the second over of the match, and India didn’t use him again in the first powerplay.
He came back later, however, and pulled things back fairly well in his last four overs, including giving away just seven runs and taking a wicket in the final over of the innings.
Given the questions around Hardik Pandya’s fitness, Reddy becomes a vital player in the lead-up to the 2027 World Cup.
He has added a yard of pace in recent months, and India will hope his bowling continues to grow as they try and mould him into a world-class seam-bowling allrounder across formats.
Team news
Sherfane Rutherford is expected to rejoin the West Indies squad after missing the first ODI for personal reasons. If he slots into the XI, Jewel Andrew is the likely batter to make way.
The trickier question is how West Indies could potentially bring in Shamar or Lawes without giving up too much of their batting strength.
West Indies (probable): 1 John Campbell, 2 Justin Greaves, 3 Keacy Carty, 4 Shai Hope (capt & wk), 5 Amir Jangoo, 6 Sherfane Rutherford/Jewel Andrew, 7 Roston Chase, 8 Matthew Forde, 9 Gudakesh Motie, 10 Alzarri Joseph, 11 Jayden Seales.
It seems unlikely India will abandon the three all-rounders combination of Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja and Naman Dhir after just one match, which means Mohammed Siraj remains on the bench unless India rotate out one of their frontline quicks.
India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shubman Gill (capt), 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 5 KL Rahul (wk), 6 Naman Dhir, 7 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Gurnoor Brar, 11 Prasidh Krishna. (Cricinfo)
Source: NEW ROOMS SITE
