West Indies vs India 2019: 5 Indian players to watch out for from the ODIs

India started their West Indies tour with a convincing 3-0 T20 series win against the host nation. They whitewashed the Windies team in the three-match series and for the ODI series, the visitors will be keen on maintaining their positive run.

India will yet again look to try out a few new combinations and experiment with batting positions. The Men in Blue are the clear favourites in the ODIs as they are No.2 ranked team while West Indies are placed as low as No.9 in ODI cricket.

Virat Kohli and co. will look to play the same brand of cricket that they played in the recently concluded World Cup and they will look to win this series in order to get the confidence back after their heartbreaking semifinal loss against New Zealand.

Let's have a look at five players to watch out for from the ODI series.

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#5 Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant has quickly moved up the ranks in World Cricket and earned quite a reputation for himself. He is touted as the replacement for MS Dhoni, and as a result, each of his performances are being monitored closely.

Pant has earned a constant spot in the Test format after the injury to Wriddhiman Saha. He has performed pretty well in red-ball cricket with the bat, scoring centuries in England and Australia while his glovework still needs some improvement. However, in ODIs, he hasn't flourished yet.

Pant was not selected initially in the 15-man squad for the World Cup 2019, but due to the injury to Shikhar Dhawan, he got his opportunity. The Delhi lad batted at the coveted No.4 position but he couldn't impress much. With MS Dhoni not available for this tour, this is a perfect chance for Pant to showcase his capabilities.

#4 Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja is the only bowler in current Indian squad who is featuring in all three formats of the West Indies tour. He wasn't part of the limited-overs setup for a while but his superb performance in the Asia Cup and IPL 2019 favored his selection in the World Cup side.

In the World Cup 2019, Jadeja wasn't in playing eleven in most of the games but he was consistently on the field as a substitute fielder and made some vital contributions. He only played two games in the tournament and his innings in the semifinal against New Zealand almost won India the match.

Jadeja is a real three-dimensional player who can contribute to the team in every aspect of the game. He is a world-class fielder apart from being one of the best left-arm spinners in the world at the moment. With the bat, Jadeja can be more than effective at times.

He will be the player to watch out for in the ODIs, especially after his heroics in the semifinal of the World Cup. It would be interesting to see if he can carry forward his recent swashbuckling form.

#3 Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan is making a comeback into the team after having fractured his thumb against Australia in the second match of the World Cup 2019. He scored his 17th century in that match despite the injury and was awarded the player of the match award.

Dhawan was dearly missed by the Indian team throughout the World Cup. He and Rohit Sharma have given rise to a formidable opening partnership in the LOI format and his absence opened up the vulnerable middle order against the quality attacks in the tournament.

Shikhar Dhawan is 33 now and with young openers like KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw waiting in the wings, he can't take things lightly. Dhawan would love to make up for the previously lost opportunity in this tour of West Indies.

Dhawan is an aggressive batsman who loves the ball coming into the bat. The pitches in West Indies should suit him as there will be plenty of pace and bounce. He would also like to improve his record in the Caribbean, which is pretty low given his standards. In 14 ODI matches, he has scored 365 runs at an average of just 26.07 and will be keen to improve this stat.

#2 Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma was the MVP of the Indian team from the World Cup 2019. He was the highest run-getter of the tournament with 648 runs at an average of 81. He notched up a record five centuries in the tournament, a record in thewhich is the most ever. Rohit along with Jasprit Bumrah were the only two Indians who featured in the ICC World Cup XI.

After a successful stint in the World Cup, India's vice-captain would love to continue his form into this series. Rohit already showed signs of his great form from the T20 series as in the second T20I, he scored a blistering 67 off 51 balls on a the tricky pitch in Lauderhill, Florida.

Rohit likes playing in the West Indies where he has scored 489 runs in 14 matches at an average of 54.33. Interestingly, Rohit is yet to score a century in the Caribbean and he would love to score some centuries in the series and continue his golden patch in ODI cricket.

#1 Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli

The No.1 ranked batsman in both the Test and ODI formats, Virat Kohli is always a prized wicket for every opposition.

Virat Kohli will be more desperate to perform on this tour as he had a pretty average World Cup by his standards. He scored runs at an average of 55.38 in the tournament but failed to score even a single century which will be on his mind.

There have been a number of question marks over his captaincy in the LOI formats after the semifinal defeat at the hands of New Zealand and Kohli would love to let his bat do the talking on this tour that could lead India to the ODI and Test series wins.

Kohli likes playing against the West Indies, having scored 1912 runs at a staggering average of 70.81. In his previous tour of West Indies, he even scored a double century in a Test match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium and undoubtedly, Kohli will be the key player for India.