India v West Indies 5th ODI: Fiery Barbados Could Test Indian Batting

India will look to put that cherry on the cake in the fifth and the final match of the ODI series against West Indies. They lead 3-1 and have won the series and you would think they would go into the game as favourites.

Instead, it is a resurgent West Indian side and a pace-filed Barbados track that could test the visitors on Thursday.

Much like what happened in the series between West Indies and Pakistan before the ongoing one, the visitors had blasted off to a 3-0 lead before losing the fourth. Later West Indies won the fifth match as well. India will hope for a better finish to the series and for that, they need to look at their batting closely.

In almost every game in the series they have collapsed during one or the other part of the innings and the lack of runs from one of the openers and Virat Kohli at the number three seems to be hurting. S Badrinath hasn’t set the stands alight after the bright start in the T20I and Yusuf Pathan’s form has only tapered off since the start of the World Cup.

Then again, the three changes that the side had made last game looked to have hurt them as well. To change things around to give the bench a go is one thing but it could have been done more smartly. Resting both the vital cogs in the wheel, Harbhajan Singh and Munaf Patel hurt the side and one of them could be recalled.

West Indies will be happier of the two sides thanks to not only their win but also due to the nature of the pitch at Barbados. They finally got a track to their liking in the fourth ODI and the Indians generally struggled against pace. With Adrian Barath back to open the innings at the top and Ravi Rampaul expected to partner Kemar Roach on a rather pace and bounce-filled track at Barbados, this could be one of the more even contests in the series.

India v West Indies fifth ODI will be played on June 16 and starts at 9.00 am local time and 1930 hours Indian time.