India vs Windies, 2nd ODI Preview: Clinical Indians await a critical Caribbean competition

The first ODI was a classic show of how potent the Indian top order is. Chasing a target of 323 runs the ease with which they got there would’ve demoralized the Windies. It took just one partnership between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to sail them through. Considering that kind of a response, the visitors will feel they were nowhere near the par total.

The fact that Indian pacers had an ordinary day on the field should be one area they would want to rectify. Vishakhapatnam is another batting paradise which does offer something to the spinners, however, should be a high-scoring encounter as well. There is a possibility that dew will come into play, thus the team winning the toss will want to bat second. 

Team Combination

India

There is no real reason why India should make a change in the team that played in Guwahati. A clear possibility is Kuldeep Yadav coming back in for Ravindra Jadeja but doing that after one game would have little value addition. Though it an ideal case scenario for the team when the top order finishes a chase, Team India would want the middle order to get some game time.

Once the likes of Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni, Rishabh Pant even Jadeja have some runs under their belt, it will further add to the confidence of the team. Mohammed Shami certainly has a lot of work to do on improving his economy and striking ability. Umesh Yadav and Khaleel Ahmed will also know that this is the game to prove themselves before the squad is named again for the last three games.

Predicted XI: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (C), Ambati Rayudu, Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Umesh Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed

Windies

For the Caribbean side, it is really important that the batsmen who get starts convert. Kieran Powell, Shai Hope, Rovman Powell all of them got starts but didn’t have the mindset to carry on. It hurt Windies a lot in the context of the game. It was on the back of Shimron Hetmyer’s hundred a 44-run partnership for the 9th wicket that took them over the 300-run mark.

All these men have to come to the party along with the lower order if they have to post or scale the total that the can put the Indians under pressure. While the Indian spinners made up for the expensive overs by the pacers Devendra Bishoo and Ashley Nurse failed to do that. That’s one area for a possible change in the Windies line-up.

Predicted XI: Chanderpaul Hemraj, Kieran Powell, Shai Hope (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Marlon Samuels, Rovman Powell, Jason Holder (C), Fabian Allen, Oshane Thomas, Devendra Bishoo, Kemar Roach

Focus will be on

Ambati Rayudu (India):

He is quite officially India’s preferred No.4 batsman heading into the World Cup 2019. In Guwahati, Rayudu showed that he has the temperament to come in while the team is riding high and still maintain his composure. His 22* (26 balls) where he shared a 70-run partnership with Rohit Sharma is just why he is the best choice to persist with. Rayudu will want to spend more time out in the middle, absorb the pressure and make it count.

Devendra Bishoo (Windies)

As the lead spinner of the team Bishoo’s figures of 10-0-72-1 doesn’t quite justify the value he is supposed to bring to the side. The role of spinners in limited-overs cricket currently is to stem the flow of runs in the middle overs and chip in with wickets as well. While Chahal and Jadeja did that really well sharing 5 wickets giving away just over 100 runs in their 20 overs. Bishoo and his partner Nurse spent 135 runs in 17 overs accounting for just one wicket.

Stat Attack

9919 – Virat Kohli is just 81 short of the 10000-run mark in ODI cricket

952 – Kieran Powell needs 48 more runs to complete 1000 ODI runs

Broadcast Details

TV – Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD

Mobile – Hotstar

Match Timings: 13:30 IST

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