Venue: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
Time: 1:30 PM IST
Average score at venue (1st inns): 242
Win percentage while batting first: 52.38%
Pitch conditions:
- The surface at the world’s biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad — in terms of seating capacity — will be friendly for batsmen even though it may sport fresh green grass at the top, since this is the venue for all three ODIs of this series.
- Both the teams have plenty of fast bowling as well as spin bowling options to pick from, but all eyes will be on the return of Indian spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, who could be seen bowling in tandem in favourable conditions and setup.
Weather prediction:
It will be a bright and sunny day at Ahmedabad for the first ODI to be played between India and West Indies on Sunday. The two teams will be keen to kick off this limited-overs series in pleasant weather on Sunday with the temperature at a high of 30°C during late afternoon, which will drop down steadily to reach around 22°C late in the evening. The humidity levels will remain under 40%.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD (overall):
Matches played: 133
India won: 64
West Indies won: 63
Tied: 2
No result: 4
In India:
Matches played: 58
India won: 29
West Indies won: 28
Tied: 1
No result: -
Top 3 players from India: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant
Top 3 players from West Indies: Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Jason Holder
Top picks for H2H/WTA contest (top 5 players each):
Top 5 players from India: Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Virat Kohli, Shardul Thakur, Mayank Agarwal
Top 5 players from West Indies: Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Jason Holder, Shamarh Brooks, Romario Shepherd
Q&A:
Should I pick more bowlers, batsmen or all-rounders?
It is a contest between two teams who have not necessarily made merry with the bat. The one-day international format has proven to be a tricky one for several batsmen in recent times, with the idea of having a game plan in place and following it has emerged more strongly than before for both — the long format players as well as stroke-makers. India's tour of South Africa, wherein they were blanked 0-3 in the ODI series, showcased that teams cannot go a long distance without having proper plans and executions in place for one-day cricket. The pitch at Ahmedabad is expected to be a slower one in favour of spinners but batsmen should find it easier to pile up big runs. Adding more to the batting strength would be a wise move since both India and West Indies have not had a terrific time with the bat in one-day cricket.
From which team should I pick more players in my XI? Which team is stronger?
Indian team is certainly the stronger side among these two given that they are playing with a nearly full strength squad, having rested first-choice fast bowling pair of Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah for this bilateral affair against the West Indies. Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Venkatesh Iyer have been excluded from the Indian squad after ordinary returns in ODIs in South Africa. India also have a tremendously powerful batting line-up which has been bolstered with the return of regular captain Rohit Sharma, while also featuring exciting and explosive batsmen in Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav, with the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Shikhar Dhawan and Ruturaj Gaikwad being sidelined from the ODI series after they tested positive for the coronavirus. All eyes will also be on India’s once run-machine Virat Kohli, who has been chasing a triple figure mark for more than two years now across formats. Kohli has recorded plenty of half-centuries but a triple-figure score has eluded for a long time. The ODI series against West Indies provides the former India skipper, playing in an ODI series as a non-captain for the first time in last six years, an opportunity to set the record straight.
MORE INFORMATION: India vice-captain KL Rahul is not available for selection in the first match, but he will be back into contention from the second ODI onwards. The return of Rohit at the top certainly provides stability given that the van is not available for the ODI series. But all focus in the Indian camp will be on their middle order including Kohli, who have time and again failed to stick crucial partnerships — the biggest reason why they were blanked by South Africa late last month. On their part, West Indies would be under pressure given that they lost their previous ODI affair against Ireland 1-2. There are some exciting batsmen such as Nicholas Pooran, Shamarh Brooks Brandon King and Shai Hope to name a few in the West Indies camp, but it remains to be seen how much this Caribbean side is able to make of the opportunity to prepare for 50-over cricket, given that India will be hosting the next World Cup in 2023.
Changes in squad (if any): NO
Likely XIs:
INDIA: Rohit Sharma (c), Mayank Agarwal, Ishan Kishan/Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Deepak Hooda, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna/Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Chahar.
WEST INDIES: Shai Hope (wk), Brandon King, Nicholas Pooran, Shamarh Brooks, Darren Bravo, Kieron Pollard (c), Romario Shepherd, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Odean Smith/Kemar Roach, Alzarri Joseph.
Fantasy XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shai Hope, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (vc&wk), Nicholas Pooran, Kieron Pollard, Yuzvendra Chahal, Deepak Chahar, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph.
―
India, West Indies to kickstart World Cup preparations with ODI series
India are all set to play their 1,000th ODI under the leadership of one of their all-time greats in the format, Rohit Sharma, who has returned to the squad after a long injury layoff which saw him missing South Africa and New Zealand in the recent past. Rohit will be leaving India in a three-match series against West Indies starting on Sunday at the Narendra Modi Stadium Ahmedabad, which will also be perceived as the start of the home team’s preparations for the next year’s 50-over World Cup which they are hosting.
Both India and West Indies are coming off the beach in the previous assignments and certainly pressure will be on them to bounce back after a string of disappointing performances. While India were blanked 0-3 by South Africa in late January in their backyard, the West Indies lost an exciting ODI series against Ireland by a margin of 1-2 before going back home to record an impressive season three against world number one England side in the shortest format.
West Indies’ victory over England in the T20 series would certainly give the Caribbean side a lot of confidence heading into a three-match ODI series, followed by a three match T20I series, against one of the most formidable teams in the world, India.
Irrespective of the leadership crisis that has unfolded in the Indian cricket circles in recent months, the team remains as strong as it ever was with plenty of firepower in their ranks ready to grab their opportunities.
Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shreyas Iyer and unlike me to play any part in the series they were found positive for Coronavirus a couple of days out from the start of the series at Ahmedabad. India have drafted Mayank Agarwal to their squad, who is likely to open the innings in company of Rohit given that KL Rahul will not be available for selection in the first ODI.
Kohli will remain at the cynosure as the former India captain is in chase of a triple-figure score, having had mixed returns in the Test and ODI series in South Africa. Kohli got a couple of starts in the ODI series but after crossing the 50 run mark on both occasions, and he will be keen to put behind the disappointment of soft dismissals to produce a long innings.
India have rested their senior bowlers Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin from this series while all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer and senior bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar were not picked up after the South Africa series. The first bowling department includes Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur, whereas the spin bowling department has been bolstered with the reunion of once India's most penetrative bowling pair in Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.
The West Indies have named a squad which has plenty of promise but perhaps not enough experience to take on India in their own backyard. Under the leadership duo of Kieron Pollard and Nicolas Pooran, West Indies would look to make a dent in the series with some promising form with the bat of Shai Hope and Shamarh Brooks, while the all-around talent of Fabian Allen, Jason Holder, Odean Smith, Nkrumah Bonner and Romario Shepherd gives the Caribbean side plenty of options to pick from.
Brooks and Hope will carry the hopes for West Indies with the bat along with the senior batsman Darren Bravo and the young Brandon King, whereas in the bowling department, the West Indies have Alzarri Joseph, senior Kemar Roach, Hayden Walsh and the dangerous Akeal Hosein.
