Uzair Rizvi BeyondHeadlines
India will look to wrap up the series when they take on West Indies in third ODI at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Saturday.
Leading the series 2-0 the Men in Blue are on a high against a low on confidence Windies’ side.
India has performed as a unit, winning the first ODI due to some good bowling and in the second ODI; the batsmen came to the party.
Their batting looks very well after some good shows by Kohli, Dhawan, Patel, Sharma and Raina in last two ODI’s.
Virat Kohli’s sensational batting performance in the last ODI earned him a Man of the Match award, his 120 run stand with Parthiv Patel was the match winning stand.
Rohit Sharma didn’t get much to bat in the second game but he already has a fifty in his hand in first ODI and will be itching to get one more.
Bowling looks top class, Munaf Patel has been consistently picking wickets.
Leggie Mishra is sure to retain his place after his 4 wicket haul in the second ODI, he is backed with the experience of Harbhajan who has been tidy with his line and length in the previous two games.
Raina and Pathan have done well to cover up the 5th bowler slot.
West Indies on the other hand has not looked good. Old horse Sarwan has been their key man, else none of them have stepped up to take up the challenge.
Simmons and Samules have helped him but much more is required from them and the other West Indian batsmen. Their lower order has not lived up to the expectations and their ability to collapse sums up their batting woes.
Their fast bowlers have not troubled any of the Indian batsmen, except for Bishoo and Martin as they will be crucial again.
Windies will look to Pollard to blossom in the last overs with his batting and bowling.
India might go with the same line-up as this team looks well nourished. They would like to win the series and try the bench strength in the remaining two games.
West Indies have announced their squad, resting Dwayne Bravo and Ravi Rampaul while continuing to ignore the explosive batsman Chris Gayle.
Danza Hyatt and Kemar Roach make their way in the team.
Interestingly, this is the same ground where a test match between England and West Indies was called off in 2009 duo to sandy outfield, which was declared unfit and dangerous.
The conditions will be similar to Queen’s Park Oval with a slow spinner friendly track, but the ball will easily come on to the bat.
Hosts are on the brink of losing another home series against an Asian side and one could really see them turn on the ignition this time. Having said that, India are the favorites because of their overwhelming domination.
Likely Teams-
India- Suresh Raina(capt), Parthiv Patel(wk), Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, S.Badrinath,Y.Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma.
West Indies- Darren Sammy (capt), L.Simmons, Darren Bravo, M.Samuels, R.Sarwan, Danza Hyatt, K.Pollard, C.Baugh (wk), R.Rampaul, D.Bishoo, A.Martin, Kemar Roach.
