India vs Windies, 5th ODI, Preview: Men in Blue hope for yet another clinical outing

Do the visitors have it in them to stun the high-flying hosts again?

Published - 31 Oct 2018, 18:23 IST | Updated - 31 Oct 2018, 18:23 IST

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The enthralling ODI series between India and Windies has arrived at its concluding stage. Both the teams will be hoping to end it on a high as the hosts are targetting to continue their series winning streak at home. On the other hand, the Windies will be looking for redemption after a thumping in Mumbai. They still have a chance to level the series and no wonder the Caribbeans will give more than 100 per cent in order to make the opposition sweat.

All the talk about the scheduling of the series against a side like Windies were rested when the visitors held India for a tie in Vizag and went on to beat them in Pune. They have earned respect after a lacklustre show in Test series and this is their best chance to prove that their victory a couple of matches was not a fluke. Jason Holder will be asking for one final effort from his boys in what has been a brilliant series to watch.

A lot of problems looked solved for India after a scintillating show a couple of days ago. Virat Kohli will just hope that they stay consistent which has been a small issue for the team in the recent games. This also marks a huge game for MS Dhoni as it will be his last appearance for Team India this year. Having been left out from the T20I squads, the veteran will now play in the ODIs in Australia in January.

Team Combinations

India

Team India hasn’t won the series which might lead to them playing the same side. But KL Rahul was seen sweating it out in the nets ahead of the game which indicates that one of the openers might be rested. The rest of the team is likely to be same as all the eyes will once again be on the middle-order and especially Dhoni who has one last opportunity to sign off a rather poor year with the bat on a high.

Probable XI: Rohit Sharma/KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed

Windies

Windies are pondering over Ashley Nurse’s fitness who got injured while bowling in the previous game. There is no update on his injury yet and Devendra Bishoo is likely to replace him in the line-up. Also, the ploy of picking Keemo Paul backfired for the visitors which means Obed McCoy will be drafted in his place now. The onus will once again be on Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer to put India under immense pressure.

Probable XI: Chandrapaul Hemraj, Kieran Powell, Shai Hope (wk), Marlon Samuels, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Jason Holder, Fabian Allen, Devendra Bishoo/Ashley Nurse, Kemar Roach, Obed McCoy.

Focus will be on

MS Dhoni (India)

No doubt. MS Dhoni is one of the most followed cricketers but his failures with the bat have been the national worry ahead of the World Cup. While his wicketkeeping is one of his best traits, the veteran’s batting skills have waned drastically. It will be interesting to see if he will come out with a different approach in his last outing this year and try to make amends for his earlier performances.

Shimron Hetmyer (Windies)

After setting the stage on fire in the first two matches, Hetmyer has endured a failure in the last couple of outings. He will be keen to sign off from the ODI series on a high which will also help him in the T20I series. If the flamboyant left-hander gets going, the Men in Blue will certainly come under the pump which has been the case so far in this contest.