(Cricket news) India defeated a Kieron Pollard-less West Indies by 44 runs to win the ODI series in the process. West Indies won the toss and elected to bowl first purely because of the dew factor but luck shined on India as shockingly there was no dew at all in the 2nd innings. The Windies replaced Pollard with young gun Odean Smith while India welcomed back vice-captain KL Rahul in place of Ishan Kishan.
Everyone including the West Indies side were shocked to see Rishabh Pant walk out to open the innings alongside his captain. Despite KL Rahul opening the innings in South Africa he was pushed down the order. Rohit Sharma clarified that Pant opening is just an experiment and not something permanent. The trick didn't work out that well as both Pant and Sharma were dismissed cheaply. Odean Smith and Kemar Roach gave the West Indies a perfect start as India were struggling for 43/3 after 12 overs.
KL Rahul and Surya Kumar Yadav came to the rescue and put together 101 runs to get out of a precarious situation. Rahul was run-out on 49 after a terrible misunderstanding but the innings was another proof that his future in ODIs lies batting in the middle order as his numbers have been extraordinary at that position. Surya Kumar Yadav played a crucial knock of 64 runs before being dismissed by Fabian Allen. Deepak Hooda played a nice little cameo and batted with the tail to get India to a respectable total. India finished at 237/9 with Odean Smith and Alzarri Joseph picking up 2 wickets while Jason Holder, Akeal Hossein, Kemar Roach and Fabian Allen got one scalp each.
Rohit Sharma once again came with a surprise as he decided to open the bowling with Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur and used Prasidh Krishna as the first change. That did the trick as West Indies openers had got off to a great start but Krishna came in to bowl and picked up 2 wickets in quick succession. He ended up with match winning figures of 4/12 off 9 overs and won the Player of the Match award. Shai Hope, Shamarah Brooks, Akeal Hossein and Odean Smith all played small cameos but none of them could play the big innings to win the game for their side.
In the end it was a 48-run victory but the match was a lot closer than that purely because of West Indies having batting till number 9. Indian management would be pleased to see the 6th bowler Deepak Hooda get some overs. Shardul Thakur bowled two excellent bouncers to get two wickets while Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar and Deepak Hooda got a wicket each. With the series already won, India may look to give a few other players chances in the side. Rohit Sharma said in the presentation that Shikhar Dhawan needs some game time and will come back in the next game. Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Avesh Khan and Deepak Chahar are all waiting on the bench.
Also read: Would the selectors be right in dropping Wriddhiman Saha from the Test squad?
