After New Zealand lost to Pakistan, India remains the unbeaten team of this World Cup but can they keep the tag against West Indies too? A win here will almost confirm their slot for the semis.
India has played much better than any team in this World Cup, and despite the hiccups against Afghanistan, they remained unbeaten. Kohli has previously said that the team takes one game at a time. This game will be no difference to them, and this team is known for going hard at the opponents from the very first ball.
India has been tremendous in all three departments, which makes them the most lethal Indian team of recent times. Especially the bowling has improved a lot with the inclusion of Bumrah, Kuldeep and Chahal. The middle order is a little weak and was tested in the last game against Afghanistan. The team management may play Pant ahead of Shankar for more stability in the middle order.
West Indies has nothing to lose. They are almost out of this World Cup and no chance to reach the semis. Well, they are themselves to be blamed for this situation. They have lost matches from winning positions too many times because of their brain fade batting and bowling. All they can do now is spoil the party of other teams now.
Players to watch out
Virat Kohli is due for a big score, although he has scored three consecutive half-centuries in the tournament, anything less than a century is considered as a failure for him, such is the standard he has set. He has scored three consecutive hundreds against West Indies in the bilateral ODI series at home, so he knows the bowlers well, and he is hungry too.
Jason Holder must be pretty disappointed with the team’s performance. He tried his best but couldn’t motivate the team enough to win the matches. He would like to end the tournament on a high note and may play a part in both batting and bowling. Even though Brathwaite scored a sensational hundred in the previous game, Holder still remains the best West Indies all-rounder of the team.
India v West Indies in ODIs:
Overall: Matches 129, India Won 59, West Indies Won 62, Tied 2, No Result 3
World Cup: Matches 8, India Won 5, West Indies Won 3
Recent Form (most recent first): India W W NR W W, West Indies L L L NR L
ICC Rankings: India (1), West Indies (9)
Upcoming Records:
Kohli needs just 37 runs to become the quickest to reach 20,000 International runs milestone. He will be the fastest to reach the milestone.
Virat Kohli needs 30 runs to become the third highest run scorer for India in World Cup after Tendulkar and Ganguly.
Hardik Pandya needs two wickets to reach 50 wickets milestone in ODIs.
Squads:
India: Virat Kohli (capt), Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shikhar Dhawan, MS Dhoni (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Vijay Shankar, Rohit Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav.
West Indies: Jason Holder (capt), Fabian Allen, Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell, Shannon Gabriel, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope (wk), Evin Lewis, Ashley Nurse, Nicholas Pooran, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Oshane Thomas.
