India look to firm up World Cup combinations

GUWAHATI: Lately, the cricket field has mirrored the geographical gulf between India and the Caribbean islands. Things have been that way for quite some time now in Test cricket but the gap between the two teams used to be closer in the limited-overs formats. Even that gap seems likely to widen when the ODI series gets under way at Barsapara Cricket Stadium here on Sunday. Blame the numerous off field factors that have been hurting West Indies cricket for the last few years.

India are looking to fine-tune their World Cup preparations in the series while the West Indies are still not sure who will be available for the quadrennial extravaganza and who will give it a miss. With just 18 ODIs to go before Team India open their World Cup campaign, the team management is in a race to identify their starting XI. Barring injuries, as captain Virat Kohli pointed out in the pre-match press conference, they will now look at options that could make the side more interesting and more aggressive. That is why Rishabh Pant has been included in the squad despite MS Dhoni's presence behind the stumps, and in all likelihood, the Delhi boy will make his ODI debut on Sunday as a specialist batsman.

While the West Indies are missing the services of proven match-winners like Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Kieron Pollard, India's XI looks all the more unbeatable with Kohli coming back at No. 3 behind Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. The calmness Ambati Rayudu brings to his job has clearly impressed the team management and there were no surprises in the rest of the twelve names distributed to the media on Saturday. Given Kohli's liking for the young Khaleel Ahmed - "we haven't had a good left-arm seamer since Zak and Nehra perhaps" - it seems it would be a toss up between him and the experienced Mohammad Shami as Umesh Yadav should be out there purely on form.
The likeable Jason Holder returned a helpless smile when a journalist asked him if he rued not having the entire pool of Caribbean talent at his disposal. Having played his heart out in the second Test in Hyderabad and still ending up losing in three days, it must be difficult for the captain to answer this question but he did a good job in giving a balanced answer: "I guess we are in a phase where we have some issues off the field which affects selection process. Can't be helped. But I am happy with what we have here. These guys are the future of West Indies cricket."

Apart from the West Indies captain himself, the two men who would have a huge role to play in the series are fast bowler Kemar Roach and middle-order batsman Marlon Samuels. Both ability and experience-wise, they are the ones who will have to take the lead if the Windies are to make an impression in this five-match series.

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from Times of India https://ift.tt/2q4I1fq