IND vs WI 2022: Team India sweats it out in nets ahead West Indies ODIs

India have started their preparations for the upcoming limited overs series against the West Indies which starts this on Sunday (February 6) with the openeing ODIs. After a 0-3 whitewash in the ODI series in South Africa, India will now have to pull their socks up for the home series as Rohit Sharma is all set to captain India for the first time as a full time skipper in white ball format. It will be interesting to see how Rohit and Rahul Dravid (head coach) combine well to produce results for India.

The Gujarat Cricket Association has already confirmed that the fans will not be allowed inside the stadium due to the COVID-19 situations. As many as eight members of the Indian team have tested positive for Covid-19 ahead of the series with Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Navdeep Saini being the affected players. Mayank Agarwal has been added to the ODI squad with two openers contracting the virus.

BCCI shares images of the Indian players sweating it out

Meanwhile, BCCI, on Friday (February 4), posted images on Twitter of the Indian side making their preparations for the upcoming ODI series. The likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shardul Thakur and Rishabh Pant have covered the most part of the images. Kohli will be playing for the first time under Rohit as the captain and the former skipper is due for centuries atmost in the series. The 33 year old hasn’t scored an international century for the last three years.

“#TeamIndia begin preps in Ahmedabad ahead of the ODI series against West Indies. #INDvWI.” the BCCI captioned on the post.

Meanwhile, Deepak Hooda has earned his maiden call up for the Indian ODI side after waiting in the wings for a long time. The Baroda born lad is yet to make his international debut despite being part of the Indian T20I squad in the past and he is expected to slot in as the finisher of the side at number six. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami have been rested for the series while Kuldeep Yadav has been recalled to make damage in the middle overs. It will be interesting to see if the Kul-cha pair has still got in them the goods to deliver which might be huge for India ahead of the 2023 World Cup.