🏏India vs West Indies: 1st ODI at Kensington Oval - 27/07/2023🏏

🏏India vs West Indies: 1st ODI at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados on 27/07/2023 at 7PM IST🏏

Both West Indies and India have won the ODI World Cup twice in their history. However, only one of these two sides will be getting an opportunity to lift the title for the third time. It's quite remarkable that we have a scenario in front of us where the West Indies will be missing a World Cup. But they brought it upon themselves after enduring a poor campaign in the qualifiers in Zimbabwe recently.

So how can the hosts even pick themselves up and perform in this ODI series given they don't really have anything to play for in this format in the near future. For India, it's the exact opposite as the clock runs down ahead of a home World Cup. They will be resuming their preparations for the mega event by focussing on the format again after playing T20s and Tests over the last few months. A few months ago, they took a harsh call and sidelined Shikhar Dhawan from the ODI squad and that worked with Shubman Gill nailing down his spot.

The visitors have more work in store as we get closer to the World Cup with Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant not available. Barring Pant, the other three will have an opportunity to make a late dash but preparing for the worst case scenario is the key for India.

The visitors on the other hand have no such issues to worry about after their white-ball fortunes nosedived in Zimbabwe. Considering they also made a shocking group stage exit in the T20 World Cup last year, West Indies pretty much need a reset. Perhaps, playing with no pressure whatsoever can help this unit make a statement.

West Indies vs India Pitch Report

The pitch in Barbados has been a decent one for the batters. Spinners and pacers are also likely to get quite a bit of assistance from the surface. Batting first should be the way forward.

West Indies vs India Weather Forecast

There is a seven percent chance of rain throughout the duration of the match. Temperatures will be around the 30-degree Celsius mark.

Pitch and conditions

Kensington Oval hosted all three matches during West Indies' ODI series against New Zealand in August 2022. The surfaces for that series produced first-innings totals of 190, 212 and 301, and had something in them for both seamers and spinners. While the top three wicket-takers were fast bowlers Trent Boult, Jason Holder and Tim Southee, the fingerspinners were hard to get away, with Kevin Sinclair, Akeal Hosein and Mitchell Santner finishing with economy rates below five.

That series, however, featured day-night games. All three ODIs in this series will be day games, with Indian TV audiences in mind. The weather could affect the first ODI, with a 20% chance of rain on Thursday. The forecast for the second ODI on Saturday, however, is grimmer, with a 50% chance of rain.

What to expect: Moderate temperatures are set to welcome the teams. Last year in August, New Zealand and West Indies played out a three-match ODI series at this venue. Two out of those three games were low-scoring ones in which the seamers had a huge say.

Team Watch

West Indies

Shimron Hetmyer is finally included in the West Indies squad again so his presence will bolster this XI. However, they will be without the services of Jason Holder and Nicholas Pooran for this series.

Probable XI: Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Keacy Carty, Shai Hope (C & wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Romario Shepherd, Kevin Sinclair, Alzarri Joseph, Oshane Thomas, Jayden Seales/Yannic Cariah

India

Even though Suryakumar Yadav had a torrid time in India's most recent ODI series, one would assume he would be given a longer rope in the absence of Shreyas Iyer. India will have to take a call on their wicketkeeper though. Both Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan will be in contention for a middle order berth. The visitors also have five pace options to choose from for the XI.

Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan/Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Umran Malik, Mohammed Siraj, Jaydev Unadkat/Mukesh Kumar

Did you know:

The returning Hetmyer has an average of 45.45 and an incredible strike rate of 121.35 against India in ODIs.

Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Axar Patel, Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson have a strike rate over 100 in ODIs since 2022.

Alzarri Joseph enjoys a very good record against two of India's premier batters - Kohli and Rohit - dismissing the duo three times each.

Form guide - (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)

West Indies LWLTL

India LLWWW

In the spotlight

He has five ODI hundreds, including two against India, and has a 35-plus average and a 100-plus strike rate after 47 games. There aren't too many cricketing reasons for Shimron Hetmyer not having played a 50-overs game for West Indies since July 2021; he'll hope this fresh start will rejuvenate his career in maroon.

Despite all the competition he faces in the spin department, Kuldeep Yadav has been a constant in India's ODI attack this year, playing eight of their nine games and picking up 15 wickets at an average of 21.13. He has an excellent record in the West Indies, where he has 11 wickets in seven games at 20.00 - among the countries and regions he has played ODIs in, he has a better average only in South Africa (13.88). Another good series here will keep him clear of Yuzvendra Chahal as India's premier 50-overs wrist spin option.

Stats and trivia

• India have won their last eight ODIs against West Indies. Their last defeat came in Chennai back in December 2019.
• Mohammed Siraj (20.72) has the best average of any India bowler to have taken at least 40 ODI wickets.
• Hope is 171 runs away from becoming the 11th West Indies batter to the 5000 mark in ODIs. Rovman Powell (975) and Brandon King (969), meanwhile, are nearing the 1000 mark.
• Jadeja needs nine wickets to become the seventh India bowler to reach the 200 mark in ODIs. If he gets there, he'll become the first India player since Kapil Dev (3783 runs and 253 wickets) to complete the 2000 runs and 200 wickets double in ODIs.

BATTERS TO WATCH(recent stats)

Brandon King, WI

9 M • 436 Runs • 48.44 Avg • 93.16 SR

Shai Hope, WI

9 M • 377 Runs • 53.85 Avg • 98.95 SR

Shubman Gill, IND

9 M • 624 Runs • 78 Avg • 117.51 SR

Virat Kohli, IND

10 M • 540 Runs • 60 Avg • 117.64 SR

BOWLERS TO WATCH(recent stats)

Alzarri Joseph, WI

5 M • 8 Wkts • 5.46 Econ • 35.25 SR

Kevin Sinclair, WI

4 M • 6 Wkts • 4.52 Econ • 35.16 SR

Mohammed Siraj, IND

9 M • 20 Wkts • 4.68 Econ • 17.80 SR

Kuldeep Yadav, IND

9 M • 16 Wkts • 5.40 Econ • 25.68 SR

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Looking forward to seeing the match.🤩