India's Probable 16-man squad for the upcoming ODI Series against West Indies

With the Asia Cup in their rear view, the Indian team will look to continue their good run of form in the upcoming home series against the West Indies cricket team which is set to commence from October 4. The West Indies tour of India will comprise 2 Test matches, 5 ODI matches, and 3 T20 matches. The seven-weeks long Windies tour will kick off with the Test series, as the first Test will be played at Rajkot between 4-8 October. The second and final Test will be played at Hyderabad between 12-16 October.

The ODI series will start on October 21st. The first ODI will be played in the recently inaugurated Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. Indore, Pune, Mumbai will host the second, third, and the fourth matches. Thiruvananthapuram will host the final and the fifth ODI match of the series on November 1. All the ODI matches are day-night affairs and will start at 2:00 pm Local / 08:30 am GMT.

Under the stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma, India put on a dominant performance in Asia Cup and won the title for an unprecedented seventh time. The Indian bowling department for the Asia Cup was boosted by the return of the deadly duo - Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, who missed out on the previous series against England ( which India lost) due to injuries. The two pacers along with the wrist spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have performed consistently throughout the tournament and restricted oppositions to minimal totals on most of the occasions.

Ravindra Jadeja, who made a comeback into the ODI side after a gap of more than one year as a replacement for injured all-rounder Hardik Pandya, has performed admirably well and repaid the faith of team management for selecting him. Jadeja provided the much-needed balance to the XI by bowling economically and scoring some useful runs while batting in the lower middle order.

Virat Kohli who was rested for the Asia Cup will likely make a comeback in the Test series against West Indies. But it looks unlikely that Kohli will play the limited-overs leg of the series because immediately following the West Indies series is the all-important grueling 4 match Test series Down Under, due to which Virat Kohli might be tempted to skip the ODI series. So Rohit Sharma may continue to captain the ODI side in the absence of Virat Kohli.

Let's see who will make the cut for the ODI series against West Indies.

---

#1 Openers - Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, and KL Rahul

Shikhar Dhawan along with KL Rahul during a training session

The opening duo of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma are arguably the best openers in world cricket at the moment. They are highly consistent together as they more often than not provide India with a solid platform during the initial overs.

In 83 ODI innings together, Indian openers have scored 3881 runs at an average of 47.32 with 13-century partnerships. They are most likely to start the innings together in the upcoming series as well.

KL Rahul will be the back-up opener in the squad, as team management has made it clear in the past that he is seen as the third opener.

If Virat Kohli is rested for the series then Rohit Sharma will continue to lead India.

#2 Middle Order - Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav

The struggling middle order batsmen - Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik

The middle order batting has been the main problem for India in the recent times. Even in the recently concluded Asia Cup, whenever the middle order was under pressure to score runs, they collapsed. Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik have performed reasonably well in the Asia Cup but could not cement their position with defining performances. They could be given another opportunity in the middle order if Virat Kohli decides to take rest for the West Indies series.

The man with the golden arm Kedar Jadhav will hold onto his place in the XI if he is deemed fit for the series. In his absence, India might give chance to flamboyant southpaw Rishabh Pant. Manish Pandey will continue to be the reserve middle order batsmen.

---

#3 All-rounders and Bowlers - Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar

One of best ODI bowling duo - Bumarah and Bhuvi

The main bowlers have been highly consistent in the recent times so there is no need to alter the bowling line-up. There is a chance that selectors might opt to give rest to leading pacers Bumrah and Bhuvi to manage their workload, keeping in mind the upcoming Test series in Australia. Siddharth Kaul and Shardul Thakur might get a chance in their absence.

Ravindra Jadeja after his impressive comeback in the Asia Cup will further look to cement his place in the side.

Squad - Rohit Sharma(c), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav / Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar.