India vs West Indies 1st ODI, Chennai: Preview, predictions, likely XIs

Having won the T20Is 1-0, India will now host West Indies for 3 ODIs, at Chennai, Visakhapatnam, and Cuttack. India have beaten West Indies thrice in ODIs this year, once in the World Cup and twice in West Indies, without losing a single one; and when West Indies had toured India last year, India had won the ODIs 3-1.

India were jolted by the injuries to Shikhar Dhawan (before the T20Is) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (after). Just like Jasprit Bumrah, both men would have been obvious starters for the ODI series. However, this will also provide India opportunities to try out their bench, especially the uncapped Mayank Agarwal and Shivam Dube.

Despite their defeat in the World Cup semi-final, India have had an excellent 2019, winning 17 and losing 7 of their matches. They have won series in Australia, New Zealand, and West Indies, and should win this series comfortably.

West Indies had started the year by holding England to a 2-2 draw. Since then they have won 7 and lost 11, but 2 of their wins have come against Ireland and 4 against Afghanistan. It has not been a great year for them.

However, in Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran, Shai Hope, Brandon King, Roston Chase, and Kieron Pollard, they do boast of one of the most explosive batting units. They will need to pull off something special here, but if the bowlers support their batsmen, they should be able to pull off an upset or two.

Head to head

The teams are still level at 62 wins each (27 each on Indian soil), but India hold a 24-8 lead in this decade including 12-4 at home.

Key players

Mohammed Shami (India): Shami has figures of 24.2-1-110-8 against West Indies this year. This included his 4/16 when the sides had met in the World Cup. Additionally, he has been in terrific form in Test cricket, and will be raring to have a go.

Shai Hope (West Indies): During the series against Afghanistan, Hope became the first West Indian in 13 years (and the fourth in their history) to score a thousand ODI runs in a calendar year. With an average of 95.80 on Indian soil, he will definitely be one to keep eyes on.

Likely XIs

India: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (c), Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami.

West Indies: Shai Hope (wk), Brandon King, Shimron Hetmyer, Roston Chase, Nicholas Pooran, Kieron Pollard (c), Jason Holder, Romario Shepherd, Alzarri Joseph, Hayden Walsh Jr, Sheldon Cottrell.