Team India will begin their ODI run in the ICC ODI Cricket World Cup 2023 year with a three-match series against West Indies starting with the first game at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on Thursday. India won the two-match Test series 1-0 and have never lost an ODI series to the Windies since 2006.
Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid will be keen on figuring out the best combination to finalise the final 15 for the upcoming ICC ODI World Cup 2023 at home. In the absence of injured Rishabh Pant, the wicketkeeper’s berth will still be open with two contestants for the position – Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson.
Suryakumar Yadav, who has struggled in the ODI format after dominating in T20I cricket, will continue to retain his berth in the middle-order. This means one out of Ishan Kishan or Samson will play in the first ODI. Kishan was the first-choice wicketkeeper in the two-match Test series, hitting his maiden Test fifty off only 33 balls in the second Test in Trinidad.
Team India will likely play three all-rounder in the first ODI – Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. Sunrisers Hyderabad and Jammu & Kashmir tearaway Umran Malik could make a comeback into the side to partner Mohammed Siraj with the new ball in the first game.
Apart from Umran Malik, Jaydev Unadkat and and Mukesh Kumar – both of whom played in the Test series this month – will be in contention to take the new ball. Kuldeep Yadav will be lone specialist spinner in the Indian lineup.
The West Indies, on the other hand, will feature a new-look lineup with Rajasthan Royals duo of Shimron Hetmyer and Oshane Thomas recalled into the side. With Nicholas Pooran and Jason Holder unavailable for the three-match ODI series, Gudakesh Motie, Yannic Cariah and Jayden Seales could be the new faces in the WI line-up after the debacle in the ODI World Cup 2023 Qualifier in Zimbabwe last month.
#TeamIndia Captain @ImRo45 on the importance of West Indies series _#WIvIND pic.twitter.com/hSDjubcSNr
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 26, 2023
India vs West Indies 1st ODI Predicted 11
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson/Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel/Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik/Jaydev Unadkat/Mukesh Kumar
West Indies: Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Keacy Carty, Shai Hope (c & wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Romario Shepherd, Kevin Sinclair, Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie/Yannic Cariah/Oshane Thomas, Jayden Seales
