ICC World Cup 2019 Match 34, India v West Indies: Preview, likely XIs, predictions

Carlos Brathwaite nearly pulled off a miraculous win for the West Indies against New Zealand at Old Trafford, and so it is likely that he’d have had a fair measure of the ground should a similar situation arise against India, who boast of one of the strongest bowling attacks in the tournament. The teams meet at the same venue on Thursday, June 27. For that to happen, though, the West Indies middle order has to capitulate like they did against New Zealand, which isn’t ideal. This game could be yet another test of the power-packed West Indies batting line-up that has imploded on occasions in the pursuit of flamboyancy.

Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Jason Holder and Brathwaite form an explosive batting order, but the question remains whether anyone in addition to Hope can build an innings and bat out a majority of the 50 overs. Gayle starred with 87 off 84 balls against New Zealand, his highest score in the tournament so far, and Hetmyer was at his usual swashbuckling self, scoring 54 off 45. But barring these two and Brathwaite’s heroic rearguard, the other batsmen fumbled and the achievable target of 292 looked daunting.

West Indies have played with fire all tournament. They have decided to take on the opposition’s strike bowlers and failed. They have tried to bounce the opposition out and failed, too. What they need is timing – to time their run chase and plan their innings when setting a target. They need to vary their lengths and not back their tall, burly fast bowlers to deliver some chin music all the time. A more cautious approach could do the trick for them against India.

India were put under tremendous pressure by Afghanistan and will have come out wiser form that clash in Southampton. The middle order struggled against the Afghan spin attack, MS Dhoni in particular was slow to get off the mark and limped to 28 off 52 balls before getting dismissed. Eventually India could manage only 224 and while their bowlers saved grace in the end with Mohammad Shami finishing the game with a hat-trick, India know that bowlers may not always be able to bail out the batsmen.

West Indies pose a different challenge, though. Their attack is pace heavy and the use of short balls, despite the mixed rate of success, is likely. If the pitch offers appreciable bounce, the short-ball ploy could work against the Indians who are brought up on pitches where the ball does not usually bounce chin high. But if there’s no extravagant bounce, the Caribbeans will have to try other lengths as almost all Indian batsmen play the pull shot well.

Despite the middle-order struggle against Afghanistan, India are likely to retain the same XI. West Indies, on the other hand, are struggling with Lewis’ thigh injury which he picked up in the match against New Zealand and may replace the opener with Sunil Ambris, who was roped in as Andre Russell’s replacement in the squad.

Head to head

West Indies lead the head-to-head tally but only just. They have won 62 matches to India’s 59. At the World Cup, though, India hold a 5-3 lead. The last time these two teams met was in a five-match ODI series in India where the hosts won 3-1.

Key players

Virat Kohli (India): This World Cup is yet to be treated with a Kohli century but the Indian captain’s form with the bat and his consistency have been immaculate. Scores of 82, 77 and 67 in his last three outings augur well for him to go on and get the ton that has so far eluded him in this tournament.

Carlos Brathwaite (West Indies): Russell’s departure was made up for to some extent by Brathwaite, whose maiden ODI century made the world stand up and take notice for the second time after that once-in-a-blue-moon World T20 final in 2016. Brathwaite is a powerful striker and can even mistime balls for sixes.

Likely XIs

India: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.

West Indies: Chris Gayle, Sunil Ambris, Shai Hope (wk), Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder (c), Carlos Brathwaite, Ashley Nurse, Kemar Roach, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas.

Prediction

India continue their unbeaten run in the tournament.