India vs Windies: Combined XI from the ODI series

Looking at the performances in the Test series, many thought that the ODI series between India and Windies would be a bummer. However, to everyone’s pleasant surprise, the Windies have pulled above their weights to shock the hosts. While many thought India would clean sweep them, the visitors were only eyeing at an upset.

Although their performance in the last two games wasn’t as good, they clearly gave the Men in Blue a good run for their money. There was a lot of anticipation about this series out of nowhere. However, India, as they usually do, emerged to be the better side and won the series 3-1. There were some exceptional performers from both the teams even though most of them were from the Indian team.

Here is the Combined XI from both the teams:

1. Rohit Sharma

If the Indian skipper Virat Kohli was on a rampage in this series, his subordinate Rohit Sharma wasn’t left far behind. His performances were almost on par with Kohli and he put his class on display yet again in this series. The Hitman (as they say) kicked off with a century in the first game but missed out in the next two encounters.

Rohit came back strong in the fourth ODI with yet another 150+ score. He went into the T20 mode in the last game where he scored an unbeaten 63 while chasing a paltry score. Despite scoring only 12 runs in the 2nd and 3rd ODIs, he went on to be the second highest run scorer. Sharma accumulated 389 runs in five innings at an average of 130.

2. Shai Hope (wk)

Shai Hope was one of the best performers for the Windies with the bat in this series. It is quite pitiful that he got out for a duck in the last two games. This essentially means that he scored 250 runs in the first three matches at an average of 125.

Shai was the biggest hope for the Windies in the 2nd ODI where they almost won the game. His 95 in the third ODI was as critical to helping his side win the match. Considering the fact that Hope has mostly come into the middle quite early in the innings in all the games, he could easily open the innings along with Rohit.

3. Virat Kohli (c)

The Indian skipper was on a run-scoring spree in this series. He became the first Indian to smash three centuries in consecutive games and also became the fastest to reach the 10,000 run-mark in the format. All his three centuries yielded three different results, which would be his only disappointment.

The man with 38 ODI centuries, not for once looked to be troubled in any one of the five games. With 453 runs in five outings at an average of 151, Kohli would make it to any XI looking at the way he has been playing. Kohli will also be leading this combined XI.

4. Ambati Rayudu

Ambati Rayudu has definitely cemented a spot for himself at the number four position in the ODIs. The batting slot was a very problematic one for India over the last two years. Once Kohli got out, there wasn’t much gas left in the middle-order on most of the occasions. But, Rayudu, with a scintillating century in the 4th ODI has solved a lot of issues.

He has got the game for the fast bowlers and is exceptional against the spinners. Rayudu can rotate the strike at will and scored 217 runs in four innings at an average of 72. He has more or less sealed the spot for the World Cup and has got Kohli and Ravi Shastri’s backing as well which will increase his confidence.

5. Shimron Hetmyer

It was the duo of Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer that was critical in helping the Windies compete so hard against a team like India. One of the cleanest hitters of the cricket ball, Hetmyer clearly pushed the Indian spinners on the backfoot with his big shots. The left-hander has struck the joint most sixes (16) in the series along with Rohit Sharma.

Hetmyer is a brilliant fielder and was the third highest run-scorer in the series. He piled on 259 runs in 5 games at an average of 52. But like Hope, even he couldn’t be consistent in the latter half of the ODI series and would’ve loved to contribute more to the team’s cause.

6. Jason Holder

If there has to be one Windies batsman who played the Indian spinners with utmost precision, it has to be Jason Holder. The Windies skipper, with his long strides forward, was highly clinical in facing the spin bowlers and was good enough against the pacers as well.

Although he is a bowling all-rounder, Holder was definitely much better than many of the Windies batters. He scored 161 runs in five matches at an average of 40 and picked up two wickets with the ball. He should be batting higher up the order than he usually does in this lineup.

7. Ravindra Jadeja

Having made a comeback into the team after more than a year, Ravindra Jadeja is only getting better with his performances as every game progresses. The left-arm spinner was brilliant with the ball in the series except for one odd game in the middle. Jadeja hit good areas and always tried to be one step ahead of the batsman.

He provided the side with some important breakthroughs and was the ‘Man of the Match’ in the fifth ODI. The Saurashtra cricketer picked up 7 wickets in four games at an economy rate under five. Even Kohli was impressed with him and felt that the cricketer understands the game in a much better way and Jaddu looks set to play the World Cup.

8. Ashley Nurse

Ashley Nurse has got the ability to curtail runs in the middle overs. He is also very effective against the left-handed batsmen and is quite a cheeky customer. The off-spinner manages to extract the bounce off the track. Along with Jason Holder, he can share the duties of the fifth bowler in this XI.

Nurse, who got injured in the 4th ODI picked up 5 wickets in four matches at an economy under six. He has also got the ability to strike the ball big and can take the game away from the opposition on his day.

9. Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav continued with his impressive run in the ODI series. The Windies batsmen found it tough to pick the variations of the chinaman bowler. Yadav varies his pace very cleverly and mixes it up with his googlies that tends to outfox the batsmen.

He ended up as the leading wicket-taker in the five-match series. Kuldeep picked nine wickets in 4 games at an average under 20. His economy rate of 5.37 was also impressive and he will be looking to make a similar impression in the upcoming T20I series.

10. Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah, perhaps, was the best bowler of the series. After missing out on the first two ODIs, he was included into the squad for the last three matches. He was bang on target as soon as he entered the field and there wasn’t any rustiness as such after having missed out on the action for some time.

Bumrah has got quite a few variations up his sleeve which the Windies batsmen were never able to figure out. He accounted for six scalps at a mindboggling average which was just about under 12 and at an economy rate below three which is absolutely astounding in the modern day cricket.

11. Khaleel Ahmed

Khaleel Ahmed was one of the finds of the series for India in this series. Although he was picked in the Asia Cup 2018 squad, this left-arm pacer has had his opportunities limited. Hence, this series was quite a breakthrough one for him.

He was the joint second highest wicket-taker with 7 victims in 4 games. He swung the ball both the ways and set the batsmen up beautifully which was quite pleasing to see. With this performance, he has made a strong contention for himself as the third seamer for the upcoming World Cup.

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