India v West Indies 3rd ODI: India Look To Wrap Up Series At Antigua

India play the West Indies in the third of the five ODIs at the North Sound in Antigua. Armed with a 2-0 lead, a win here will win the Indians the series, making this a vital game to win for the home side. Having already lost a series to Pakistan in a similar fashion only a week or so before the start of this tour, it will augur well for West Indies to try and get something on the board.

What will hurt the West Indies side more is that the Indians have come on tour with a second-string side. And yet, the home team hasn’t come close to giving the Indians a fight.

In the first game, India were left to chase only 215 and despite a middle-order wobble, managed to get to the target without too many hiccups. The second game saw the West Indians bat much better but even a score of 240 wasn’t enough to test the batting might of the Indian bench. Rain ensured a reduced target but to be fair, India never looked out of control.

Not that the selectors have helped the West Indian cause too much. They continue to not select Chris Gayle and make some strange choices with the squad. They have allowed Dwayne Bravo to take a break when he has barely played any internationals all summer while getting in pace bowler Kemar Roach in place of Ravi Rampaul. Why both Roach and Rampaul could not play together is beyond the fathomable.

India should go into this game with the same eleven irrespective of the way the pitch behaves. Amit Mishra has been hard to read and the West Indian batsmen have fallen all over the place against him. Harbhajan Singh, on the other hand, hasn’t been at his best, but will lead the attack while Munaf Patel and Praveen Kumar continue to provide some excellent control at the start.

With Virat Kohli getting those 81 runs in the second ODI, the Indian top-order batsmen have all been amongst runs and will look to continue with the same levels of performance in an attempt to clinch the series as early as this.

The India versus West Indies third ODI will be played on Saturday, June 11 and will begin at 9.00 am local time and 1830 hours Indian time.