Another run feast on the cards Kochi, November 20 It is always hard to say, good-bye, always difficult to get over emotional farewells and ever so much more when the person bidding adieu is Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. As the nation and its billion inhabitants still recover from the proceedings of November 16th, 2013 in Mumbai, an ODI series gets underway some 1500 kms away in the south-western coastal city of Kochi - for as they say, The Show Must Go On! The Nehru Stadium will play host to the first of the three ODIs between India and the West Indies. India sit pretty at the top of the ODI rankings while the team from the Caribbean languishes at number 7. India were victorious 3-2 over Australia in a run- extravaganza just prior to the West Indies tour. While their batsmen tormented and annihilated the Australian bowling attack and made mountainous chases seem like a walk in the park, its the bowlers who would be giving the Indian captain, MS Dhoni sleepless nights and turning his hair white. The West Indies, meanwhile, need to show some fight and gusto after capitulating within three days in both the Tests in Kolkata and Mumbai. A change in leadership is most welcome, given the fact that Darren Sammy went wicketless in whites. Clive Lloyd accused the West Indies of suffering from a T20 hangover in the Test series. A fitting reply for Dwayne Bravos men would be to go out on an ODI high! India India would start as favourites and once again look to their batsmen to provide the goods. Rohit Sharma with 1071 runs from 22 innings is the third highest run-getter in ODIs in 2013. He has hit a purple patch and recently became only the third batsmen in history (after Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar) to register a double ton in ODI cricket. Shikhar Dhawan is not far behind and is just 9 short of 1000 aggregate runs himself for the calendar year. Virat Kohli has amassed a staggering 1033 runs at 54.36 per dismissal at a strike rate of 97.63 in 2013. The top-3 will be followed by the likes of Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh. The latterss form will be the only cause of worry in the Indian camp. MS Dhoni is one of the best finishers in the games history and with Ravindra Jadeja back in the mix, Indias batting looks strong and intimidating. The bowling needs redemption. Ishant Sharma was the first casualty of the Australian ODI tour and unless urgent measures are adopted, the West Indies batting line-up is well capable of benching a few more Indian bowlers especially if the nature of the wickets continues to aid batsmen. Mohammad Shamis sudden rise in the Test series augurs well for the Indian team. Dhoni has insisted that his fast bowlers have been training hard in the nets practisng yorkers for the death. India would be hoping that R Ashwin and Jadeja can fox the West Indian batsmen with their guile and spin. West Indies The West Indian batting line-up is top heavy. The big three - Chris Gayle, Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuels would need to fire and do the bulk of the scoring. Gayle hasnt had a great year but averages 55.85 in India. He has six tons from 22 ODI appearances. Bravo and Johnson Charles have been their most prolific run- scorers in 2013 with 614 and 612 aggregate runs respectively. Dwayne Bravo and Darren Sammy would need to provide the impetus coming lower down the order. Ravi Rampaul will lead the West Indian pace attack and would be supported by Jason Holder. The latter at 6 feet, 7 inches could pose a few questions for the famed Indian batting with his bounce and pace. But it will be Sunil Narine who would hold the trump card to their fortunes. The crafty off-spinner has 23 wickets from 19 ODI innings in 2013. Although skipper Bravo is ahead in the wickets tally, it is the economy rate of 4.53 which is the outstanding statistic for the spinner. Stats Trivia - Ravindra Jadeja with 46 wickets is the second highest wicket-taker in ODIs in 2013. - Virat Kohli is just 81 runs short of 5000 runs in ODI cricket. Should he get there at Kochi, he would equal Viv Richards record of the fastest to 5000 (114 innings). - Ravi Rampaul with 93 ODI wickets needs 7 more to become the 14th West Indian to reach the landmark of 100. - India beat the West Indies 4-1 in the last bilateral ODI series between the two countries in India in 2011. Pitch and Conditions Rains are predicted throughout the day and could well play spoilsport for the opener. The wicket might be a little damp and moist and may assist the faster men with the two new balls. Otherwise, a run-feast is expected and the bowlers may have their task cut out. Quotes We are aware of playing the world champions. We respect their strengths but at the same time we know what we need to do to win matches: West Indies skipper, Dwayne Bravo West Indies are a good team. It is a different squad for the ODIs and the West Indian players coming in are well-suited for the 50-over format: Indian captain, MS Dhoni Teams India Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Amit Mishra, Ambati Rayudu, Mohit Sharma, Jaydev Unadkat. West Indies Chris Gayle, Johnson Charles, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo(c), Narsingh Deonarine, Denesh Ramdin(w), Darren Sammy, Sunil Narine, Tino Best, Ravi Rampaul, Jason Holder, Veerasammy Permaul, Kieran Powell, Lendl Simmons
Posted on: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 07:33:46 +0000
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