After attaining a clean-sweep against the Windies in the two-match Test series, the Indian squad will eye to continue with their winning streak in the 50-over format of the game in the five-match ODI series starting today in Guwahati.


India has won the toss and decided to bowl first. While Pant makes his ODI debut, Raydu will bat at number four. Kohli has picked up three seamers in form of Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav and Khallel Ahmed with spin option as Chahal and Jadeja as all-rounder. Kuldeep Yadav has been dropped from the playing XI.


According to the pitch report, the cracks on the pitch tell that it will be a turning pitch; batting second won’t be easy as spinners will get help from the pitch but if the batsmen play shots through the line they can possibly put some good runs on the board.


However, Kohli seems to have different opinion on how the pitch might respond as he said, “We don't expect the pitch to change much. Instead of 60-80 partnerships, we need big ones.”


With two debutants- opener Hemraj and fast bowler Thomas, it’s time for skipper Jason Holder to lead side from the front and tries to attain positive results for his side in the very first ODI. Holder was quite happy after being put to bat first, he said,” Probably, we would have liked to bat first. So, looking to put runs on the board. It's an opportunity for the youngsters to make a name for themselves.”


After getting a much-needed break during the Asia Cup, skipper Virat Kohli is all set to return to the ODIs. The ODI series against the West Indies can possibly mark to be a very special one for Kohli. The skipper will have the chance to break the two great records of legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar in this series. In addition to completing ten thousand in one-day cricket, Virat Kohli can break Sachin’s record of scoring most runs against the West Indies. Currently, Sachin is placed at the top of this list.


The 21-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant will make his ODI debut, following his great performance with the bat in two-match test series against West Indies. Pant also scored a century at the Oval in his debut series against England.


Apart from Pant, all eyes will be on Mahendra Singh Dhoni once again. The veteran has been going through a rough patch in recent times and has not contributed much with the bat. Currently, he has a quite decent strike rate of 67 in the ODIs.


It will be interesting to see that how India will tackle with the problem of finding the Number five batsman. With this series, the countdown to the 2019 World Cup has begun and the men in blue will hope to get more answers for their unresolved middle-order puzzle.



 


Teams:


Windies (Playing XI): Kieran Powell, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Shai Hope(w), Shimron Hetmyer, Marlon Samuels, Rovman Powell, Jason Holder(c), Ashley Nurse, Devendra Bishoo, Kemar Roach, Oshane Thomas


India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni(w), Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, K Khaleel Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal