India vs Windies- India Predicted ODI squad

India have had a stupendous campaign in the recently concluded Asia Cup and were the only side to remain unbeaten in the multi-nation event. However, with the World Cup scheduled to be played from May next year in England, India still have plenty of work to do as far as getting their combinations right. They will next play the Windies in a five-match ODI series.

The white-ball fixtures commence on October 21 at Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati with Thiruvananthapuram being the venue for the last match. The Windies haven’t been at their best in the 50-overs format and the home team is the firm favourite to win the series. In the meantime, let’s take you through the Men in Blue’s probable 15-man squad for the home series.

Batsman (Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Dinesh Karthik, Ambati Rayudu)

Rohit Sharma, after his heroics in the Asia Cup, is likely to don the captain’s hat in the ODI series as well for the reason that the management is concerned about Virat Kohli’s fitness and may rest him. Rohit is also one of the openers along with Shikhar Dhawan. KL Rahul would be hoping to get some matches in the home series. Dinesh Karthik didn’t do anything wrong in the UAE.

He won’t be the wicketkeeper though as was seen in the Asia Cup. Though he didn’t get anything substantial under his belt, he chipped in with some useful contributions in the middle order.  Ambati Rayudu passed the yo-yo test and then went on to score a couple of half-centuries in the multi-nation tournament against Hong Kong and Afghanistan respectively.

Wicketkeeper (MS Dhoni, Rishabh Pant)

India are likely to go in with a couple of wicketkeepers in MS Dhoni and Rishabh Pant. Recently, a BCCI official confirmed that Dhoni will play the World Cup in all probability. He wasn’t at his best in the Asia Cup and concerns surrounding his form remains to be the same and the Jharkhand-born cricketer would be keen to get find his rhythm, both as the batsman and keeper.

Pant, on the other hand, is yet to make his foray into ODI cricket. However, his recent form is no less than stupendous, albeit in Test cricket where he already has scored a century and a 90 against England and Windies. The Uttarakhand-born talent has played a few T20Is in which he failed. The ODI series also gives a chance for him to make a strong case for himself in the World Cup.

All-rounder (Ravindra Jadeja)

The Saurashtra cricketer had to warm the benches in most of the matches during the English tour, but he grabbed the opportunity with both hands when he was included for the last Test at Kennington Oval. Even in the Asia Cup, he was able to hit the right channels in order to strangle the opposition batsmen. He has translated the form against Windies as well in the Tests.

Fast bowlers (Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed, Siddarth Kaul)

Among the fast bowlers, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah did an excellent job in the Asia Cup and showed why they are regarded as lethal prospects in white-ball cricket. Both of them have been rested for the ongoing Test series and therefore are expected to come back afresh in the ODI squad. Deepak Chahar and Khaleel Ahmed got their maiden ODI call-ups in the Asia Cup.

The latter picked up four wickets in crunch moments to announce himself. On the other hand, Chahar flattered to deceive in the only match he played and conceded runs at over nine rpo. Siddarth Kaul is yet to pick up his first wicket in One Dayers after three matches. Meanwhile, Kaul, Chahar, and Khaleel have a golden chance of playing well and putting themselves in contention for the Australia series.

Spinners (Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal)

The spin-department remains untouched with Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal in the ranks. Both are almost certain to play the World Cup and with them performing well, the management won’t want to tinker with the tweakers. Most importantly, they have done well outside the sub-continent and even in England they were unplayable and the Windies now need to tackle them.

The duo tormented the South African batsman in the ODI series earlier this year. To be precise, they ended with a combined tally of 33 wickets and therefore were the leading wicket-takers of the series. Kuldeep also went on to pick up a six-wicket and a five-wicket haul in England. Even in the Asia Cup in the UAE, they weaved their magic. They will be supported by the left-arm spin of Jadeja.

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