West Indies tri-series 2013: India looking for a good start in Jamaica

Mahendra Singh Dhoni would hope to see his untested middle order perform in West Indies

Date – 30th June 2013

Time – 9.30 a.m (8.00 p.m IST)

After their emphatic victory in England, India are once again on the rise. MS Dhoni and his boys performed remarkably well in the Champions Trophy. The selectors took a brave decision by dropping senior members from the squad which eventually paid off. Ravindra Jadeja played an important role in India’s Champions Trophy triumph and MS Dhoni would be hoping that he can replicate the same performance in the West Indies. They looked settled as a unit as they were unbeaten during the Champions Trophy.

Also, the players like Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Dinesh Karthik responded to the pressure situation, which is a good sign for India. So, if the middle order can ably support the top three by scoring runs consistently, then India would certainly have their noses ahead.

However, India doesn’t have a quality pace-attack who can exploit the West Indian conditions. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is generally a good exponent of the new ball but the conditions in West Indies will not aid swing bowlers. Therefore, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma will be holding the key for India. Although they haven’t performed well in the Champions Trophy, the series in West Indies provides a great opportunity for them to cement a place in the squad.

West Indies, on the other hand, have been relentless at home. Chris Gayle, who did not make any impact in the Champions Trophy, scored an impressive century in the first match against Sri Lanka. Their bowlers have been instrumental as they have performed on a consistent basis.

However, West Indies will have to use Sunil Narine carefully as majority of Indian batsmen are good players of spin bowling. It will be interesting to see the tactics of Sunil Narine against Dhoni and co. So, if West Indies can rattle India’s top order, then India’s middle order would indeed be tested.

Pitch and Conditions

The wicket in Jamica is expected to aid pace bowlers. Therefore, toss will play a critical role. Both teams would look to bowl first on a seamer friendly track.

Team news

West Indies are likely to stick with the same team that outclassed Sri Lanka. However, the middle order hasn’t fired for West Indies on a consistent basis, and India would be looking to exploit that weakness.

Players to watch

Rohit Sharma – Rohit Sharma had performed extremely well in the Champions Trophy. Together with Dhawan, Rohit has provided steady starts for the team. In 2011, when India toured West Indies, he was the man-of-the-series and hence he would be familiar with the conditions prevailing in West Indies. Therefore, if Rohit Sharma can provide a good start, then it gives Dhoni the license to attack in the slog overs.

Kemar Roach – Roach has been a remarkable new-ball bowler for West Indies. However, he failed to deliver in the first match against Sri Lanka. West Captain Dwayne Bravo, however, has backed Roach to perform in the next match against India. So, if he can strike with the new-ball, then India’s batting would certainly be tested.

Quotes

In the first game [of the Champions Trophy] against Pakistan, Kemar was the bowler who got us in the position we were in. Today, he created chances and that is what we want from him. One or two bad games don’t say anything. He’s still one of our best bowlers. It’s good to have someone like Tino Best on the sidelines, that’s good bench strength for us as a team.” - Bravo backs Roach to put up a better show against India.

What is very important for us is not to look too far ahead. We will take it series by series. We just finished a world tournament in the UK and now we are in the West Indies. First, we will have to see the two teams which are ahead of us. The performance was really good in UK but we need to continue.”- Captain Dhoni is hoping for another good show in West Indies.