West Indies’ tour of India is set to end on a thrilling note with the three-match one-day series tied 1-1 going into the decider on Sunday (December 22) in Cuttack.
It will be anything but easy though, given how India crushed those dreams in the previous match in Visakhapatnam. West Indies started the series with a fairly convincing win in Chennai but India hit back hard with a 107-run win.
India would be pleased with the performance of their batsmen through the series. Their top three failed in Chennai but two of them bounced back in style in Visakhapatnam. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul smashed tons in a 227-run opening stand to set up the big win. Virat Kohli has scores of 4 and a first-ball duck in the two games, but India will not be too bothered. A big one could very well be around the corner.
But there are issues in the bowling. They looked lacklustre in Chennai, and there were phases in Visakhapatnam where they were under pressure. The mountain of runs in the second game meant India were unlikely to lose, but India’s bowlers would have felt the heat.
Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav would be two bowlers who’ll be high on confidence after picking up three each in the second game, Kuldeep getting them via a hat-trick. India have lost Deepak Chahar to injury for the decider, with Navdeep Saini coming in. He could make an ODI debut, unless India being back Yuzvendra Chahal.
India XI: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli(c), Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w), Kedar Jadhav, Shivam Dube, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur.