IND vs WI: 1st ODI Preview – Hosts start favourites against mercurial visitors

After sealing a victory in the T20I series, India will now aim to continue their sensational home form against the West Indies. The hosts have established themselves as one of the dominant ODI units in the world. The Caribbean unit, on the other hand, are still searching for consistency and their best team combination. The series will be Kieron Pollard’s biggest challenge in the 50-over format since he was appointed as the skipper a couple of months ago. But facing off against a mercurial unit will be an interesting challenge in itself for India, one which they will surely relish.

Match Info:

India vs West Indies, 1st ODI (15th December, 1.30 pm IST)

M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.

Head to Head:

Played – 131

India wins – 62

West Indies wins -62

Tied – 2

N/R – 4

Form Guide:

India – W, W, NR, L, W

West Indies – W, W, W, L, L

*Most recent first

Weather Forecast:

Cloudy conditions expected with the temperature around 23 to 30 degrees. 65% humidity forecasted.

Talking Points:

Will King Kohli continue his dominance?

Virat Kohli has been in blistering form during the T20I series. In Hyderabad he played a knock of two halves, taking time before eventually asserting his authority. In Mumbai though, he obliterated the opposition from the first ball itself. With 9 centuries at an average of over 76, the Windies are perhaps Kohli’s favourite opposition. The last time he played an ODI series against them, he scored back-to-back brilliant tons to guide India to victory. Don’t count against him to carry this devastating form forward.

How will the Windies cope against spin?

Chepauk has always provided the spinners a fair bit of assistance. Countering it has been the Achilles heel for the Caribbean outfit. With two quality leg-break bowlers along with Ravindra Jadeja’s left-arm spin in the Indian armoury, it will a stern test for a young West Indian batting unit. How they emerge from the challenge will largely determine their level of performance.

Numbers to look out for:

Team News

India

There won’t be a much of a noticeable difference in the look of the Indian side compared to the one which played in the T20I series. Kedar Jadhav will come in place of Shivam Dube to further strengthen the batting department and provide some handy overs of spin. With the pitch in Chennai being spin-friendly, India are likely to field a spin trio of Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravindra Jadeja. The team management also suffered a late blow as Bhuvneshwar Kumar was ruled out of the series. Shardul Thakur has taken his place in the squad. It will be a toss-up between him and Deepak Chahar for a place in the playing XI.

West Indies

Shai Hope and Alzarri Joseph will be quality additions to the Windies side in search of some consistency. The fitness of Evin Lewis will be a concern though after his injury in Mumbai. He is likely to be replaced by Sunil Ambris who will partner Hope at the top. Roston Chase will also lend some much-needed balance to the side.

Probable XI

India: KL Rahul, R Sharma, V Kohli (c), S Iyer, R Pant (wk), K Jadhav, R Jadeja, D Chahar, M Shami, K Yadav, Y Chahal

West Indies: S Hope (wk), S Ambris, S Hetmyer, R Chase, N Pooran, K Pollard, J Holder, S Cottrell, K Pierre, H Walsh, A Joseph