India and the West Indies have each taken home two ODI World Cup titles. However, only one of these two teams will have the chance to win the championship a third time. It’s amazing that a situation where the West Indies may miss a World Cup is in front of us. But after recently going through a disappointing qualifying campaign in Zimbabwe, they brought it on themselves.
Given that they don’t really have anything to play for in this format any time soon, how can the hosts even pull themselves up and compete in this ODI series? They made the tough decision to exclude Shikhar Dhawan from the ODI team a few months ago, and it was successful in securing Shubman Gill’s position.
With Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, and Rishabh Pant unavailable as we come closer to the World Cup, the visitors will have more work on their hands. With the exception of Pant, the other three will have a chance to make a late run, but the key for India is to be ready for the worst-case scenario.
The tourists, on the other hand, are unaffected by such concerns as a decline in their white-ball fortunes in Zimbabwe. West Indies really need to start over, especially after their devastating group-stage exit from the T20 World Cup last year.
When: July 27, 9:30 a.m. local time, 7 p.m. IST; West Indies vs. India, first ODI
Where: Bridgetown, Barbados’ Kensington Oval
The teams can anticipate welcoming conditions with moderate temperatures. At this location, a three-match ODI series between New Zealand and the West Indies took place in August of last year. Out of those three games, two were low-scoring affairs where the seamers played a significant role.
Team Overview
West Indies
This starting XI will benefit from the return of Shimron Hetmyer to the West Indies squad. For this season, though, Jason Holder and Nicholas Pooran won’t be available to them.
Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Romario Shepherd, Kevin Sinclair, Alzarri Joseph, Oshane Thomas, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Keacy Carty, Shai Hope (C & wk), Jayden Seales/Yannic Cariah
India
Even though Suryakumar Yadav struggled mightily in India’s most recent ODI series, one could imagine that with Shreyas Iyer out, he would be given a longer leash. However, India will need to make a decision over their wicketkeeper. Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson will both be vying for a spot in the middle order. Additionally, the visitors have five XI pace alternatives to select from.
Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Umran Malik, Mohammed Siraj, Jaydev Unadkat/Mukesh Kumar, and Shubman Gill make up the probable starting XI.
Have you heard?
- In ODIs against India, the returning Hetmyer had a remarkable strike rate of 121.35 and an average of 45.45.
- Since 2022, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Axar Patel, Ishan Kishan, and Sanju Samson all have ODI strike rates above 100.
- With three dismissals each of Kohli and Rohit, two of India’s top batsmen, Alzarri Joseph has a strong record against them.
