The first game of the five-match series was easily won by the Indian side in the end and they will take on West Indies with this 1-0 lead behind them at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain for the second encounter. The match, to be played on Wednesday, will be the third successive match in five days to be played at this venue which means that the tiring pitch could have a say in the result.
India v West Indies 2nd ODI: India Favourites To Make It 2-0
Already, the track has shown signs of slowing down and it may not get any better for this game.
India will not mind that too much. They have the slow bowling to counter that and so far, the West Indian batsmen have not answered too many of the questions that the likes of Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra and even Suresh Raina have posed them.
In the first ODI, the West Indian side lacked aggression at both, the top and towards the end of the innings, which should be a worrying trend. Chris Gayle wasn’t picked after his issues with the board, but then, the absence of Kieron Pollard made things more puzzling. He needs to come back into the eleven, replacing someone like Kirk Edwards.
India had surprised many by getting in Mishra in place of R Ashwin but the fact that he is a leggie as compared to Ashwin and Harbhajan’s off-spin may have tilted the scales in his favour. There is place for Ashwin in the side, especially given the way Yusuf Pathan has batted and bowled in the series so far. The management will afford Pathan another chance but he could be running out of time.
The top-order caved in for India but Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina did well to guide the side to a win. The lack of a quality spinner for West Indies allowed them to run away to a win.
India will hope for a better start from the pair of Parthiv Patel and Shikhar Dhawan, but more importantly, they will want something more from Virat Kohli. Kohli is a graceful batsman who can adjust well but so far, his adaptability is under a bit of a fire.
India play West Indies in the second ODI on Wednesday, June 8. The game starts at 9.00 am local time, 1830 hours IST or 1300 hours GMT.
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