With MS Dhoni's 10k runs on cards, India eye another series win at home

A victory in the fifth and penultimate One-day International will ensure India maintain their unbeaten run since the reverse against South Africa in 2015

With a 2-1 lead in their pocket, the men-in-blue will take the field against West Indies on Thursday at in Thiruvananthapuram eyeing another home series triumph. A victory in the fifth and penultimate One-day International will ensure India maintain their unbeaten run since the reverse against South Africa in 2015.

The last ODI played here was also between the two teams and was won by the visiting side, then an eminent force in world cricket. Jason Holder's men will look to seek inspiration from their illustrious predecessors and level the series.

Team News

India

While Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been in superlative form, scoring three and two centuries respectively, Ambati Rayudu, backed by the skipper, has also been among the runs. The rest of the batsmen haven't quite had the impact they would have liked to. The flamboyant Shikhar Dhawan has not capitalised on the starts while veteran Mahendra Singh Dhoni has found runs hard to come by.

The return of Jasprit Bumrah has added value to the Indian team and he proved his worth in the two games he has played while the young Khaleel Ahmed showed he's learning with an impressive spell at the Brabourne Stadium.

The spinners have done the damage with most of the Caribbean batsmen struggling to cope with Kuldeep Yadav, while Yuzvendra Chahal was benched for the fourth ODI in favour of Ravindra Jadeja.

West Indies

The visitors, on the other hand, have blown hot and cold in the one-dayers after being routed in the Tests.

Shimron Hetmyer and Shai Hope have impressed the most, having logged a century each while underlining their abilities. Captain Holder has shown he can handle the Indian spinners pretty well but the other batsmen have not covered themselves with glory.

The participation of off-spinner Ashley Nurse, who has been a consistent performer, is in doubt after he suffered an injury during the Mumbai game. His absence could affect the hopes of the Windies in the all-important game.

Last match for MS Dhoni in 2018

Left out of the T20 squad for the upcoming series in Australia, Dhoni will hope to make a contribution in front of the stumps, too, even though his work with the big gloves has been stupendous. Dhoni stands on the cusp of a milestone, needing one run to reach the 10,000-run mark in India colours (he has scored 124 runs for Asia XI).

Squads:

India: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed, Umesh Yadav, Lokesh Rahul, Manish Pandey.

West Indies: Jason Holder (captain), Fabian Allen, Sunil Ambris, Devendra Bishoo, Chanderpaul Hemraj, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope (wicketkeeper), Alzarri Joseph, Evin Lewis, Ashley Nurse, Keemo Paul, Rovman Powell, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels, Oshane Thomas.