India v West Indies 4th ODI: 6 Talking Points

A lot of things happened on October 17, 2014, during the 4th One Day International (ODI) between India and West Indies. It turns out that a lot of questions regarding the right team for the World Cup still require answers. Here is a short summary of the match:

#6 The spin dilemma

Akshar Patel impresses

Although the match wasovershadowed by the West Indian pullout and the Indian batting display with Virat Kohli delivering a Man-of-the-Match performance, one playerwhowas probably the most impressive was Akshar Patel. With figures of 10-1-26-2, he was a standout, especially withRavindra Jadeja another left arm off-spinner going for plenty at the other end (9-1-80-2).

If he continues to perform like this in the upcoming series against Sri Lanka, it could put more pressure on the Saurashtra lad.With Amit Mishra having a decent series, picking 3 of these 4 spinners is going to be really difficult given that Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin are the first picks.

If it ends up being Akshar vMishra for the one last spot, which most probably will be the case, it will be interesting to see who willget the preference if both end up havinga good series against Sri Lanka.

#5 The pacers

Can Umesh Yadav be consistent?

Two fast bowlers who are sure of making the flight to Australia are Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami. The former for the new ball bowling and the latter for his ever-improving skills at the death (read: yorkers). With the third, fourth and, maybe, fifth seamer options still very wide open, Umesh Yadav did well to claim one of those spots with a decent show.

The series against Sri Lanka will hopefully give us one or two more fast bowler(s).

#4 Suresh Raina carries on

Suresh Raina playing a pull shot

It was good to see Suresh Raina extending his good run, although it would have been better if he could have scored bigger. With Kohli under pressure and the top order not really as settled as it should be, Raina’s good form has proved vital, and an Indian fan would hope that he can keep delivering like this with the World Cup coming up.

#3 The centurion

Ah, the relief..!

Yes, the Kohli everyone knew was back, this time converting the start into a hundred unlike in Delhi. Although this century comes at an Indian venue – in good batting conditions, it is only a good thing that he scored runs and scored big. Imagine the panic and the confusion he could have gotten himself into if he hadn’t scored even on subcontinental decks. Not something you want from, probably, the most important batsman in your camp.

Also, with Srilanka coming for an ODI series. What more could Kohli ask for, right? A good day turning better.

#2 The start(s)

The right opening combo?

The West Indies pulling out did overshadow the game a bit. But some analysis into the game.

Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan and Raina all of them got starts but again failed to capitalise: get a 3-figure score. It has been happening a lot. Somehow these players need to grow the knack of converting the starts and going on to score really big.

Another question now would be the batting position of Rohit Sharma when he comes back. Although he has stated that he would prefer the opening slot, he might have to give it up for Rahane who seems more comfortable opening than coming at 4, where he seemed quite lost.

If Rohit has to bat at the opening position, the only better option would be to put Rahane at 3 and Kohli at 4 like it happened in Delhi, which would also mean that Delhi lad may not have to face much of the new ball: not a bad idea in Australia.

#1 The West Indies pull out

West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo at the toss with the entire Caribbean team

Of course, the big news was that the West Indies players were pulling out of the remainder of the series owing to the continued internal disputes. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was quite miffed with the pull out, and there are rumours that the West Indian players might be banned from participating in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for a minimum of one season, which is bad news not only for the franchises but also the fans who might miss out on the entertaining presence of some of these Caribbean players.