After the thrilling tie in the second ODI of the five-match ODI series between India and Windies at Visakhapatnam on last Wednesday (October 24), both teams are ready to face each other in the third ODI of the series at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium (Pune) on Saturday.
At present, the host India is leading the series by 1-0 after the second ODI. While India won the first ODI by 8 wickets at Guwahati, the Visakhapatnam ODI finished in a tie.
Also read: Predicted XIs Of India And West Indies For Pune ODI
Indian cricket team
Indian top-order batsmen are performing consistently in these days. The openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma, skipper Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu etc all have shown their tough characters with the bat in hands in the recent days. Among them, Kohli is in the beast mode who has played three consecutive 50+ knocks in the last three ODIs, including two back-to-back centuries in the ongoing ODI series. In this year, Kohli has played 11 ODIs and has scored 1,046 runs with the average of 149.42, including five centuries and three half-centuries.
The solid top-order batting performances are providing lesser and irregular chances for the middle-order batsmen. In overall, the middle-order batting still needs improvement.
The Indian pacers are mostly underperformed in the ongoing home ODI series. However, the frontline pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah have returned to the national squad from the third ODI of the series and now we can expect better bowling performances from the team. Meanwhile, the Indian spinners are at least picking up the wickets but still, they are mostly unsuccessful to check the run-rate.
Windies cricket team
The middle-order batsmen are performing better in this tour than the top-order batsmen. While the Windies team has scored 300+ totals in both the ODIs, the top-order batsmen mostly failed to provide long partnerships.
The 21-year-old middle-order Shimron Hetmyer is in the dangerous batting form at the moment as he played 106 and 94 runs knocks furiously in the first two ODIs of the series. While Kieran Powell is still inconsistent with the bat, Shai Hope’s brilliant batting in the last game has raised team’s confidence level. In the last ODI, chasing the 322 runs target, Hope played a brilliant knock of 123 not out and hit a four on the last ball of the game to secure a tie result.
The bowlers really need work harder as mostly they have underperformed in this tour.
Full squads
India: Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (wk), Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey
Windies: Jason Holder (Capt), Fabian Allen, Sunil Ambris, Devendra Bishoo, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope (wk), Alzarri Joseph, Kieran Powell, Ashley Nurse, Keemo Paul, Rovman Powell, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels, Oshane Thomas, Obed McCoy.
Key Stats Preview:
- In his last three ODIs, Indian skipper Virat Kohli has played three consecutive 50+ knocks.
- Out of their three ODIs at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium (Pune), India won twice and lost once. The Saturday game will be the first international match for Windies at this venue.
- Indian cricketer Ravindra Jadeja (1,975 runs) needs to score 25 more runs to complete his 2,000 ODI runs.
- Indian wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni (9,969 runs) needs to score 31 more runs to complete his 10,000 ODI runs for the Indian cricket team.
- Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar (96 wickets) needs to take four more wickets to complete his 100 ODI wickets.
- Windies opening batsman Kieran Powell (970 runs) needs to score 30 more runs to complete his 1,000 ODI runs.
