Windies v India, 4th ODI Preview: Total domination on the cards for men in blue

After two brutal wins over the opposition, team India now has an unassailable 2-0 lead in the 5-match series with 2 games to play. Coming in to the fourth game of the 5-match series, it will be a case of total domination for the men in blue. If they concede a game at this stage, it would only be a shame considering the kind of brutal form they have been in. They should make it 4-0 in the series from hereon.

Being not very harsh on the hosts, Windies, they need to show competition to keep their fans interested. The way they have surrendered meekly in the last two games have made things look very lackluster for them. They have to show the Caribbean fighting spirit and give their fans something to joy about in their dwindling cricketing fortunes.

A win for the Windies would keep the series alive as they will have another shot in the final ODI to level the series 2-2. On the other hand, a win for team India will mean curtains to the series as they will register the series win. The final game, in that case, will be an inconsequential one.

Toss: Windies won the toss and opted to bat

Holder: We are going to bat first. It (surface) seems a bit better than the last game. We have been bowling first so far in the series. We have only one change. Joseph in for Cummins. It is good to have rotation. It is important to have the positive mindset as a batsman. The wicket was a bit up and down last time, probably it would do a bit at the start today as well. So, we just have to get past that and push on thereafter.

Kohli: That was the plan. Not a bad thing to lose the toss. We wanted to bowl first and see how we bat on this wicket second. We are also giving some of the guys a go. Yuvi got a bit of hammy in the last game, so he is not playing and DK comes in. Jadeja comes in for Ash. Mohammad Shami gets a go in place for Bhuvneshwar. We want to be ruthless as a side and play to the best of our potential. We were put under the pump in the last game, but we came out on top again. The players are pretty optimistic in going ahead in these two games also.

Playing XI:

India: Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni(w), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami

Windies: Evin Lewis, Kyle Hope, Shai Hope(w), Roston Chase, Jason Mohammed, Jason Holder(c), Rovman Powell, Ashley Nurse, Devendra Bishoo, Alzarri Joseph, Kesrick Williams

Focus will be on

Virat Kohli

Indian skipper Virat Kohli has had a decent run in the recent past with the bat. He crossed the fifty run mark on quite a few occasions this season. But a big ton still eludes him. The fans would expect the big knock to be just around the corner. Kohli’s form has been good and just needs to continue to bat the same way. The previous game was a case of rare failure for him as he got out for a mere 11. He would certainly want to cover up for it in this particular match.

Jason Mohammed

When Jason Mohammed had entered the international scene for Windies earlier this year, he was being tipped as the next big thing for them in the limited overs. He was exceptional in the home series against England in March. His form saw a slight dip in the series against Pakistan but had a wonderful knock to keep his high stakes going. In this series, he got his first good crack in the previous game with a 40 odd to his name. Now, he would want to make things count and score bigger runs for his side.

Team Combinations

Windies

The Windies camp have to get back to the drawing board and figure out where exactly are they going wrong with their combinations. They have very little opportunities left to improve their ODI rankings for the direct qualification to the ICC World Cup 2019. They are unlikely to make any changes to their team for this match though.

The only temptation might be to bring back Alzarri Joseph back in the playing eleven. Joseph was one of the few bowlers who found assistance from the conditions during the previous fixtures. Kesrick Williams, who replaced Alzarri in the previous game, could make way for Alzarri in the playing eleven for this match.

India

Team India have a problem of plenty. With the series almost bagged in their kitty, the management could give the chances to the ones who have been warming the bench thus far. Skipper Virat Kohli had also hinted at the same during the press conference. In all likelihood, Mohammad Shami could get his first game on the tour in place of Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Dinesh Karthik, who has been in tremendous form in the domestic circuit this season, deserves his chance with the bat too. He might come in for someone like Shikhar Dhawan, who could be rested after a spectacular season with the bat. Also, Rishabh Pant could make his ODI debut and Yuvraj Singh could be the one making way for him.

Stat Attack

2 – Number of stumpings needed by MS Dhoni to overtake Kumar Sangakkara as the wicket-keeper with most stumpings in ODI cricket.

3 – Number of stumpings needed by MS Dhoni to become the first wicket-keeper to register 100 stumpings in ODI cricket.

11 – The last time West Indies beat India in a bilateral series was back in the year 2006, almost 11 years ago.

21 – Number of runs needed by Ajinkya Rahane to overtake Rohit Sharma’s tally of 257 runs as most runs by an Indian batsman in a series in West Indies.