5 milestones that can be achieved by Indian players in the ODI series against Windies

The Indian cricket team is currently hosting West Indies for a two-match Test series with the first Test being won by India with a substantial margin of an innings and 272 runs. The Indian team will now head to Hyderabad for the second Test starting from 12th of October.

Post the Test series, India will be playing five ODIs with the West Indies. The ODI series will kick-off from Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on 21st of October. Many Indian players are expected to return to the fray after having been rested for the Test series against West Indies. Besides, the ODI series against West Indies will also be the last one for India in India for the calendar year 2018. India might also include some fringe players to solve their middle-order conundrum.

In addition to that, the ODI series will also bring a lot of milestones for the Indian players given that they are a part of the Indian ODI team for the series. Thus, in this slideshow, we will have a look at five Indian players who might be achieving their respective milestones in ODI the series against West Indies.

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#1 MS Dhoni approaching 10,000 ODI runs for India

Of late, the former Indian captain, MS Dhoni, has faced a lot of criticism from the cricketing fraternity for his dogged style of batting wherein he uses up a lot of balls before getting off the mark. Nonetheless, despite his in-efficacious batting, MS seems to be perfect for the Indian team with the decent amount of experience on his side. Moreover, some good batting in the middle might bring things back on track for Dhoni.

Hence, cometh the series against West Indies, Dhoni will be hoping to reroute his form and score some runs for the team. Besides, he will also be on the brim of a yet another milestone in international cricket. Dhoni is just 51 runs short of scoring 10,000 runs for India alone in ODIs. MS has scored 10,123 international ODI runs out of which 174 runs came in a three-match series between Asia XI and Africa XI, where he was a part of the latter.

Thus, amassing these runs, MS will become the only fourth Indian to have breached the 10,000-run mark for India alone in ODIs. The other three Indians are Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, and Rahul Dravid acquiring the first, second, and third spot on the list, respectively.

#2 Virat Kohli running towards 10,000 ODI runs

MS Dhoni's successor Virat Kohli is all set to reach a prominent milestone in ODI cricket. Well, you can't keep this man away from records. Unquestionably the best batsman at the moment, Kohli has been on an altogether different league. His rare failure nowadays becomes a headline - such is been his reputation in world cricket at the moment.

Virat Kohli is just 221 runs behind the 10,000-run mark in ODIs. With West Indies set to play 5 ODIs in India, this might not turn out to be a tough ask for Virat unless and until he is injured or rested for the series.

Collecting these runs, Kohli will become the only 5th Indian and 13th overall to have achieved the feat. Apart from that, he will also become the only second player in the world after MS Dhoni to breach the 10,000-run mark with an average of 50 plus (if the former skipper gets to the mark in the upcoming games, that is).

#3 Bhuvneshwar Kumar close to 100 ODI wickets

The Indian death overs specialist, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, is on the brink of a significant milestone in ODI cricket. Kumar has now become a mainstay of the Indian team across all the three formats. He had a pretty decent Asia Cup 2018 where he made a comeback after coming off from an injury. However, as a precautionary measure, Bhuvi was rested for the Test series against West Indies.

With 96 wickets up his sleeve, the fast bowler needs just four more wickets to reach the golden figure of 100 ODI wickets. Scalping these wickets, Bhuvi will become the 19th Indian to have taken 100 or more wickets in ODI cricket. Thus, if BCCI doesn't rest Bhuvi for the ODI series against the West Indies, we could expect the veteran to reach the milestone.

#4 Shikhar Dhawan cornering 5000 ODI runs

Another top order batsman who is cornering a milestone in ODI cricket is Shikhar Dhawan. Fondly known as Gabbar, Shikhar has seen two extremes in his cricketing journey - red ball cricket and white ball cricket. The former where he has struggled considerably, and the latter where he has been the best in the business. Thus after having been ignored for the Test series against West Indies, Dhawan will look to make the most of the ODI series against West Indies.

Gabbar is just 177 runs minus the 5000-run mark in ODI cricket. Amassing these runs, Shikhar will become only the 13th Indian to go past the 5000-run mark in ODIs. He also has 25 fifties and 15 centuries against his name in ODIs. Besides, he has also been one of the fastest batsmen to have scored 15 centuries in ODI cricket.

#5 Virat Kohli set to become the fourth most successful Indian ODI captain

Virat Kohli finds yet another place on the list but this time as an ODI captain. Besides his batting, Kohli has done a fair bit of job in the captaincy as well. Currently, he also enjoys an exceptional winning percentage of 76.47 which is the highest for any captain (minimum 50 ODIs as a captain) at the moment.

Having captained India in 52 ODI games, Kohli has been triumphant in 39 of them. Thus, with 4 or more wins as an ODI captain, Kohli will surpass the likes of Kapil Dev and Rahul Dravid to become the fourth most successful Indian captain in the history of ODI cricket. The other three Indians MS Dhoni, M Azharuddin, and Sourav Ganguly occupy first, second, and third place on the list, respectively.