India vs West Indies 2nd ODI, Visakhapatnam: Preview, predictions, likely XIs

As in the last month’s T20Is against Bangladesh, India find themselves one down going into the second match of a series, this time in the ODIs against West Indies. This was India’s fourth consecutive ODI defeat at home as well as West Indies’ fourth consecutive ODI win on Indian soil. India will now need to win both matches, at Visakhapatnam and Cuttack, to seal the series.

Not only did West Indies win the first ODI at Chennai, they did that in emphatic fashion. Up against a target of 288, they barely broke a sweat to win by 8 wickets. Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer both got hundreds, and Nicholas Pooran’s fireworks ensured they reached home in the 48th over. The likes of Roston Chase, Kieron Pollard, and Jason Holder were not even needed.

The Indian bowling looked threatening only in bursts. Shivam Dube was expensive as the fifth bowler, allowing runs to be scored easily, while Kedar Jadhav did not bowl a second over. That is one area India need to address.

Their batsmen, on the other hand, did well despite a rare failure from Virat Kohli and in the absence of Shikhar Dhawan. Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, and Jadhav all looked in control even as Sheldon Cottrell, Keemo Paul, and Alzarri Joseph pegged India back with wickets at regular interval.

Despite the setback, however, India will take field as favourites in the second ODI, at Visakhapatnam.

Head to head

West Indies sneaked ahead after that Chennai win. They now need 63-62 including 28-27 on Indian soil. However, India hold a 24-9 lead in this decade including 12-5 at home.

Key players

Virat Kohli (India): Who else but the man with more ODI runs than anyone against West Indies? Kohli has not played ODIs for some time before this series, and what better moment to leave a mark on the series than here?

Sheldon Cottrell (West Indies): It was Cottrell’s fourth over – in which he got KL Rahul and Kohli – that set up the match for West Indies. With time he has emerged as the West Indian spearhead in limited-overs cricket; he will want to live up to that reputation.

Likely XIs

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

West Indies: Shai Hope (wk), Sunil Ambris, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran, Roston Chase, Kieron Pollard (c), Jason Holder, Keemo Paul, Hayden Walsh Jr, Alzarri Joseph, Sheldon Cottrell.

Prediction

India to win and level the series.