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Talk of a new brand of white-ball cricket has been floating around in Indian circles for a few years now, and the Men in Blue finally have a golden opportunity to put their thinking caps on and come up with a revamped approach. The first of three ODIs against the West Indies will be played on Sunday, February 6 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
With the 2023 World Cup at home on the horizon, India - under a new captain in Rohit Sharma - will look to build towards the marquee ICC event despite being without several first-choice stars. While the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami have been rested, Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya have missed out due to fitness concerns. COVID-19 claimed another three players - Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shreyas Iyer - while KL Rahul will miss the opening ODI for personal reasons.
Nevertheless, India have a strong squad to choose from and will be confident of outlasting a West Indies side that has also struggled in 50-over cricket of late. The Windies' T20I series victory over England did little to assuage the wounds of their demoralizing loss to Ireland, a loss which captain Kieron Pollard claimed was a dark day in cricket for the country.
With only five wins in 12 ICC Cricket World Cup Super League matches, West Indies desperately need a turnaround in ODI cricket. A struggling India, who are on the back of a comprehensive ODI series loss to South Africa, could be the perfect opposition to get back to winning ways against.
India vs West Indies 1st ODI: Can Kishan catalyze hosts into action at the top of the order?
With Mayank Agarwal yet to complete his quarantine period, young Ishan Kishan will partner Rohit Sharma at the top of the order for India. The southpaw, who already has an ODI fifty to his name from two matches, will be crucial to the hosts' intent to score quickly in the powerplay. Flanking Kishan will be captain Rohit and his predecessor Virat Kohli, who will be desperate to convert his starts into big scores.
India's middle order doesn't wear a settled look in Rahul's absence, but Iyer's positive test means Suryakumar Yadav is all but guaranteed to play. The Men in Blue might hand a debut cap to Deepak Hooda, who could serve as the sixth bowling option while batting at No. 6. Deepak Chahar and Prasidh Krishna, who impressed in the final ODI against South Africa, will also be in the mix.
West Indies, on the other hand, have batting concerns to sort out. The likes of Brandon King, Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran will have to lead the batting lineup and score the bulk of the runs, but consistency is something that has eluded the Caribbean batters over the last few years. And while the visitors have a well-rounded bowling attack that can cause the Indians problems, their top order looks increasingly fragile.
India, despite their powerplay wicket-taking woes in ODI cricket over the last few years, should be able to capitalize on West Indies' deficiencies at the top. Rohit can be backed to start his tenure as India's full-time ODI captain with a meaningful win against his Mumbai Indians teammate.
Prediction: India to win the first ODI against the West Indies
