India vs West Indies 3rd ODI : Preview and Predicted Playing XI

The second ODI between India and West Indies at Visakhapatnam ended in a nail-biting tie. The Caribbean side somehow managed to keep the head to head scoreline intact and cut short hosts from levelling the honours. Though the hosts are still 1-0 ahead in the series and they will aim to extend their lead and level head to head honours when they welcome the tourists for the third ODI at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Saturday, October 27.

India have hosted Windies in 52 completed bilateral ODI fixtures and have won 25 of those with the Carribean side slightly ahead on 26 wins while the previous one ended in a tie. In the previous ODI, India elected to bat first and posted 321 on the board. The Windies countered back and denied the hosts victory with the help of a last-ball boundary from Shai Hope to level the scores.

India

The Men in Blue went into this series on the back of 2-0 Test series whitewash against same opponents and continued their proceedings with the same enthusiasm in the ODI series. Despite posting a commendable 321 on the board, their bowlers failed to defend the total and had to settle on a tie.

Batting

Skipper Virat Kohli seems unstoppable at the moment and is going through a dream year. The Indian skipper completed his 1K runs in a calendar and also overhauled the 10K run mark in the previous fixture to become the fastest batsman to claim that milestone. Kohli smashed 140 and 157* in the first two games respectively and once again will pose major threat to the visitors.

While Rohit Sharma also scored cracked 150+ mark in the opening fixture. He, along with his opening partner Shikhar Dhawan form a lethal combo at the top and are expected to get the team off to flying start. In case of unexpected top order failure, India also poses a strong middle order batsman in Ambati Raydu, who is capable to play his game in any circumstances.

Bowling

With the return of their front line bowlers; Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, the Indian team has already received a major boost in this department and the duo will be backed by their skipper to rattle the West Indian top order early on.

While Spin twins (KulCha) Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have troubled the tourists in both the matches to share seven wickets between then and India will expect these two to come to the fore once again.

Expected Playing XI

Virat Kohli (C), Ambati Rayudu, Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma.

West Indies

West Indies look to avoid silly mistakes

After losing their three one-day internationals in a row, Windows managed a tie in the previous one. Though they will be little disappointed with the result in the last game as they were in strong position to win the clash until 46th over but somehow, threw away initial advance by wasting too many deliveries towards the end. Still, the Carribean side may take a lot of positives from the previous match and will come out confident in the next one.

Batting

Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer have certainly raised the bar in the batting department and once again it will be up to these two to deliver the goods with the bat. Hope cracked an unbeaten ton in the second ODI and helped his side tie the game. While Hetmyer has scores of 106 and 94 in the respective matches.

Except these two the will also need Marlon Samuels to score some runs in the middle. They batsman has not been able to make an impact so far, which has been a concern for the Windows.

Bowling

The Windies have been impressive with the bat so far in this series but their bowling still remains an area of concern. As none of their frontline bowlers have been able to trouble the Indian batsman throughout the series.

Ashley Nurse was the pick of the bowlers last time with excellent figures of 2-46 in ten overs and the off-spinner will be expected to trouble the Indian batsmen at Pune. While they will also need Jason Holder and Kemar Roach to put their best feat forward and get some wickets early on.

Expected Playing XI

Jason Holder (C), Ashley Nurse, Kemar Roach, Devendra Bishoo, Obed McCoy, Kieran Powell, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Shai Hope, Marlon Samuels, Shimron Hetmyer and Rovman Powell.