India seeks respite in Caribbean sojourn
India's last tour to the Caribbean, in July-August 2016, was Anil Kumble's first assignment as head coach of the national team. Twelve months on, despite achieving success across all formats under him, India has returned to the West Indies, but without Kumble.
The five-match One-Day International series and the one-off Twenty20 International comes soon after India’s loss in the final of the Champions Trophy to Pakistan. Virat Kohli’s men go into the series, which kicks off with the first ODI on Friday, as the favourite. After all, the West Indies failed to qualify for the Champions Trophy and was even troubled by 10th-ranked Afghanistan in a recently concluded limited-overs series. The home side won the T20I series 3-0, but shared the ODI trophy with Afghanistan after the final was washed out with a scoreline of 1-1.
Lack of experience has haunted the West Indies for a while. The 13-member squad selected to play India boasts of just 213 ODI caps, with Holder being the most-capped with 58 matches. In contrast, the trio of Yuvraj Singh (301), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (291) and Virat Kohli (184) collectively boast of 776 ODI caps.
India has rested Jasprit Bumrah and Rohit Sharma for this series, replacing the duo with Kuldeep Yadav and Rishabh Pant who joined the team in London before flying to Port of Spain in Trinidad.
That could mean an opportunity for Mohammed Shami, who despite being part of the Champions Trophy squad did not get a single game in the campaign. Shami, in fact, hasn't played an ODI since the 2015 World Cup semi-final against Australia; he has been in and out of rehabilitation due to his knee problems, though he took part in several Test matches and a few Indian Premier League games.
Rohit Sharma's absence could prompt Kohli to try Ajinkya Rahane at the top of the order, though he has struggled with his form of late. If, however, India goes with a more aggressive approach, Pant could make his ODI debut, given his ability of making good use of the Power Play overs when only two fielders are outside the 30-yard circle.
The fact that the West Indies struggled against Rashid Khan, the Afghanistan leg-spinner, might tempt the Indian think tank to give Kuldeep a chance in place of either R Ashwin or Ravindra Jadeja, but that will also depend on the kind of strip prepared at the Queen's Park Oval.
The home side will rely on Shai Hope to rack up the runs like he has in various situations in recent times, but the rest of the unit will need to support him. The bowling department looks more stable, with Ashley Nurse and Shanon Gabriel doing most of the damage against Afghanistan.
Though the coming week promises a forecast of heavy rains across the region, Friday is expected to be a clear day with the temperature ranging between 26ºC and 30°C.
Squads (from)
India: Virat Kohli (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Umesh Yadav.
West Indies: Jason Holder (capt), Jonathan Carter, Miguel Cummins, Alzarri Joseph, Jason Mohammed, Kieran Powell, Kesrick Williams, Devendra Bishoo, Roston Chase, Shai Hope (wk), Evin Lewis, Ashley Nurse, Rovman Powell.