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Former India opener Wasim Jaffer reckons that the Men in Blue must play their strongest playing XI in the final ODI against West Indies as a series loss would be hugely embarrassing. He urged the visitors to ensure that both skipper Rohit Sharma and senior batter Virat Kohli feature in the playing XI in the deciding ODI.
India will take on West Indies in the third and final ODI of the series at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad on Tuesday. The Men in Blue won the first ODI in Barbados by five wickets but went down in the second game by six wickets.
Previewing the deciding ODI, Jaffer urged India to shun the experiments as losing a series to West Indies, who have failed to qualify for the World Cup, would dent the team’s confidence.
“India doesn’t want to be [beaten]. They’ll feel embarrassed if they lose this series with the kind of team that they have. Everything to play for both teams,” Jaffer told ESPNcricinfo.
He expressed surprise at India’s decision to rest Rohit and Kohli for the second ODI and commented:
“It was surprising that Virat and Rohit weren’t playing. You expected them to win the series and then try something new or whatever you want to try in the third ODI after winning the series. I was surprised. Hardik [Pandya] said that they wanted some answers for whatever questions they had. I wonder what… there are not many positive answers coming in.”
On what changes he would like to see for the decider, Jaffer reiterated that India should not experiment with the series on the line.
He elaborated:
“The series is on the line, so you might see Rohit and Virat coming back into the side. Just changing the team for one game, you are not going to get any answers. I am hoping Rohit and Virat are forced to play in the third ODI. We went into the second ODI in a kind of confused state. You don’t want to lose the series, which is on the line.”
India were bowled out for 181 in the second one-dayer, a score West Indies chased down in 36.4 overs.
“Axar would be in my side in every game” - Wasim Jaffer
Sharing his thoughts on the bowling department, Jaffer stated that he would bring in Axar Patel and leave out either Mukesh Kumar or Umran Malik.
Explaining his reasons for the same, the former cricketer said:
“Axar would be in my side in every game and I’ll pick either Mukesh or Umran because sometimes Umran can be very expensive. He is very inexperienced as well. He bowls with pace and sometimes that pace helps you to score runs.”
Mukesh claimed 1/22 in five overs on his ODI debut in the first match. Umran has bowled three overs each in both games but has gone wicketless.
