The 5-match ODI series between India and the West Indies is set to to start with the first ODI scheduled on 23rd of June. Following the ODI series, India will also play a one-off T20I against the Windies with which the tour will come to a conclusion.
The Windies didn’t qualify for the recently concluded Champions Trophy and now, will be up against a strong Indian side that has the ability to whitewash them in both the ODI series and the T20I. India look strong both on form and on paper. However, there are still certain things that can pose a great threat to India’s domination over the Windies in this tour.
Let us now have a look at five of those threats which can hinder the success of the Indian team on this tour:
#1 The immense Potential in the Windies Squad
The Windies squad is fairly young and inexperienced at the moment. But, no one can deny the fact that their players have immense potential as well. Players like Evin Lewis and Roston Chase have already proved what they can do with the bat.
Lewis had struck a thunderous century last year in a T20I against India in the USA that accounted for a Windies victory by 1 run. Chase has also proved his mettle in the longer format of the game as he has already mustered 3 centuries and 3 half-centuries to his name in just 10 test matches. India will remember the way in which Chase single-handedly went on to draw a Test last year with a beautiful innings of 137*.
There is further talent in the squad in the likes of Shai Hope, Captain Jason Holder and Jonathan Carter. Left-handed opener Kieran Powell and limited overs specialist bowler Kesrick Williams have also impressed with their performances in the previous matches.
Leg spinner Devendra Bishoo is also not someone to be ignored. He is a big turner of the ball and can give nightmares to even the best players of spin. Moreover, they have some serious talent in the pace department in the likes of Miguel Cummins and Alzarri Joseph. They can trouble any batsman on their day.
#2 Cummins-Joseph combination
Miguel Cummins and Alzarri Joseph seem to be the future of the Windies fast bowling. Joseph, the tall, lanky and fiery right-arm fast bowler, burst on to the international scene during the U-19 World Cup in 2016 which turned out to be a title-winning campaign for them.
He was immediately called up into the squad for the Test series against India a few months later and he impressed everyone with the pace and bounce. He troubled the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Wriddhiman Saha in his very first Test match and won accolades.
Cummins also played in the same series as Joseph and he didn’t lag far behind in impressing with his performances. Although, luck eluded him in terms of wickets in the first couple of Tests, he picked up a lot of wickets in the third Test of the series; 9 to be precise.
The credit goes to his second innings exploits with the ball in which he ran through the Indian batting order with a spell of 6/48. Hence, in the upcoming ODI series against India, the role of these two young fast bowlers will once again be crucial.
#3 Controversies regarding Kumble-Kohli
The controversy regarding Virat Kohli and Anil Kumble took a new turn on Tuesday as Kumble stepped down from the position of Head Coach. Moreover, he hinted about his differences with Kohli in his farewell note and it only aggravated the situation further.
The Indian team has been continuously under the spotlight for this reason, even before the Champions Trophy started. Now, they are going into this West Indies tour without a Head Coach and hence it remains to be seen how it will span out for team India.
Despite all the news about his rift with Kohli, Kumble had been extremely successful as coach during his one-year spell. India achieved success in all three formats of the game during his stint. But his absence and the uncertainty might have a bad effect on the mental shape of the Indian players as a whole.
#4 Not enough adaptation time and a short series
The Indian players mostly played on good batting tracks for the past six months. Even the English conditions in the Champions Trophy didn’t provide any sort of challenge for the batsmen as all the pitches were made batsman-friendly. However, things will not be the same in the Caribbean conditions.
Pitches will be on the slower side and will favour the bowlers mostly. There will be turn on offer for the spinners as well. In other words, the Indian batsmen are in for a tough time. They will have to manufacture their own pace on the ball as it will not come on to the bat that easily. India don’t have enough time to acclimatise to the Caribbean conditions.
They have landed in the country immediately after the end of the Champions Trophy campaign and the series is now going to start in the blink of an eye. Although, most of the players have played here before and have a wealth of experience, it is very important to spend some time in foreign conditions before the start of the series and play some practice matches.
The series is going to be short as well. So, India won’t have the time to recover if they falter at the start.
#5 The Windies’ affinity towards shorter formats
Shorter the format, the more dangerous this Windies side becomes. The have proven limited overs format players in the squad in the likes of Evin Lewis, Ashley Nurse, Kesrick Williams, Jason Holder and others. They are the current World T20 champions and can pose a serious threat to this Indian side in the T20I. The last time they met in a T20I was in 2016 in the USA.
West Indies won a high scoring thriller by just 1 run. Evin Lewis had smashed an unbelievable ton in that match. Having missed out on the Champions Trophy, West Indies will have a point to prove and can be dangerous in the ODI format.
They have the firepower in batsmen like Evin Lewis and Shai Hope. To complement the hard-hitters, they have a batsman like Jonathan Carter who can anchor the innings all the way.
They have two reliable and wicket-taking spinners in Devendra Bishoo and Ashley Nurse. And the bowling trio of Alzari Joseph, Miguel Cummins and Kesrick Williams is equally potent. And add to that the all-round capabilities of skipper Jason Holder which can come good on any day.
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