Visakhapatnam: After suffering a crushing defeat in Chennai, India will look to come out with a better performance on all fronts and level the three-match ODI series when they take on the West Indies in the second game on Wednesday.
India — ranked second in ODIs — will be desperate to avoid a series defeat against a side who are seven spots lower than them. India’s record has been outstanding at home in the last few years and it would be a bit of an embarrassment if they go down against a young Caribbean side.
India lost the first ODI where they found themselves wanting on all fronts. After posting a challenging 288-run target on a sluggish MA Chidambaram wicket, the hosts came out with a below-par performance in both the bowling and fielding departments and were defeated by eight wickets to concede a 1-0 lead in the series.
One of the things that was evident in Chennai was that India’s team balance wasn’t right as they were struggling to get the overs out of their fifth bowler. They handed a debut to Shivam Dube and he was taken to the cleaners by both Shimron Hetmyer and Shai Hope. Thus, going into the Visakhapatnam game, the team management will have to address this one key area.
Another area of concern for Virat Kohli is the team’s fielding. Shreyas Iyer spilt an easy catch off Hetmyer who scored 139 runs and broke the backbone of the Indian bowling line-up.
The only positive for the hosts was the batting performance of Rishabh Pant. In Chennai, he scored his maiden ODI fifty and thus the team would want him to carry on with the form in the remaining matches as well.
The Windies will go into the match with a lot of confidence. Their performance in Chennai in all the three aspects of the game was better than the hosts and all they need to do is to continue with that in order to win their first ODI series against India since 2006.
Meanwhile, cricketer-turned-commentator Ian Bishop believes the Windies can go on to win the series.
“I think the most important thing for me is the process of playing, the way the West Indies team has carried out the plans — if they continue to do that on this tour, then I don’t think success is too far away,” Bishop told Star Sports.
“Remember, this is the team that won only one game in the cricket World Cup against the semi-finalists. It’s the process of Keiron Pollard and the team is what I’m looking at.”
