WI v IND 2019: India's predicted playing XI for the first ODI against West Indies

After a heart-wrenching World Cup 2019 campaign, India will return to on-field action with a tour to West Indies. The Caribbean nation will host India for 3 ODIs, 3 T20Is, and 2 Tests. In the process, the two teams will officially kick-start the inaugural ICC World Test Championship.

With the Indian team soon departing for the Caribbean islands, the Indian selectors revealed the squad for all the three formats today. As opposed to the initial rumors, Virat Kohli will lead the team in all three formats. Meanwhile, MS Dhoni made himself unavailable for the tour as he takes a brief break from cricket.

Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya have been rested from the limited-over formats. Manish Pandey and Shreyas Iyer are back in the white-ball squad. Meanwhile, Dinesh Karthik misses out after a poor World Cup campaign. In the bowling department, the selectors have included Khaleel Ahmed and Navdeep Saini in the white-ball squad.

With the ODI series starting on August 08, let us look at India’s predicted playing XI for the first ODI against West Indies.

#1 Openers (Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan)

Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan

Rohit Sharma had a dream World Cup 2019 as he scored 648 runs in nine matches with five centuries and one half-century. Rohit’s five centuries were the most by any batsman in a single edition of the World Cup.

However, the Indian vice-captain failed in the all-important semi-final clash against New Zealand. His dismissal triggered the batting collapse in the semi-final. Nevertheless, Rohit will look to start the ODI series against West Indies on a fresh note.

After a poor outing in India’s first World Cup 2019 game, Shikhar Dhawan scored an excellent century in the next match against Australia. In particular, he batted with a fractured thumb against Australia. Later, he was ruled out of the World Cup after he failed to recover from the injury. Since Dhawan has regained full fitness now, he finds himself a place in the West Indies tour.

#2 Middle-order (Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and Shreyas Iyer)

KL Rahul and Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli had a decent World Cup 2019 as he scored 443 runs in nine matches with five half-centuries. Even though he scored five consecutive half-centuries in the tournament, he failed to convert them into big scores. Besides, a failure in the semi-final ended his World Cup campaign on a bitter-note. Instead of taking rest from the limited-overs, Kohli has decided to play in all the three formats.

KL Rahul was initially picked in the World Cup 2019 squad as a back-up option for the openers. However, he was given the mantle of the problematic no.4 spot in the first few games of the tournament. Later, he returned to the top of the batting order when Dhawan was injured. With Dhawan back in the squad, Rahul will once again be batting at no.4. If Rahul continues to perform well in that position, then he can be the solution to one of India’s long-running conundrums.

Shreyas Iyer was one player who was auditioned for the no.4 slot previously. After some decent performances in the domestic circuit and IPL 2019, Iyer recently played for India A against the West Indies and scored 126 runs in three games. Iyer will look to seal his place in the playing XI with some good performances in the ODI series.

#3 Wicket Keeper and All-rounder (Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja)

Ravindra Jadeja

For a long time, Rishabh Pant has been touted as the player to replace MS Dhoni in all the three formats. He has already established his name in the Test squad. He was initially not picked in the World Cup squad. However, Dhawan’s injury in the World Cup opened the doors for him. With MS Dhoni out of the West Indies tour, Pant has an excellent chance to establish his name in all the three formats.

Ever since the inclusion of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI, Ravindra Jadeja rarely got chances in the starting line-up. Even in the World Cup 2019, he missed most of the games. He got his chance only during the last league game against Sri Lanka. Since he performed well, he was included in the semi-final against New Zealand. Jadeja justified his selection by playing one of the best knocks of the World Cup. With Pandya not in the squad, Jadeja will play as the sole all-rounder in the West Indies series. In the process, he will look to seal his place in the playing XI.

#4 Bowlers ( Chahal, Bhuvneshwar, Shami, and Khaleel Ahmed)

Mohammad Shami

After a mixed World Cup 2019, Yuzvendra Chahal will look to start fresh from the West Indies tour. Since Jadeja’s rise has coincided with Kuldeep’s poor form, Chahal might be the only wrist-spinner in the playing XI. Nevertheless, Chahal will look to bowl well irrespective of his bowling partner in the middle.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar had an average World Cup 2019 as he took ten wickets from six games. With Mohammed Shami bowling exceptionally well in the World Cup, Bhuvi's performances came under the scanner. Even his inclusion in the semi-final over Shami raised several eyebrows. Hence, Bhuvi will look to answer his critics by performing well in the West Indies tour.

Mohammed Shami played only four games in the World Cup. He took a staggering tally of 14 wickets in his four games, and his performances raised several questions over his exclusion in the initial games. However, he was strangely excluded once again in the semi-final in favor of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. With Bumrah not in the limited-overs squad, Shami will look to make full use of this opportunity.

Khaleel Ahmed made his ODI debut during the Asia Cup last year. In his short career of eight ODIs, he has managed to claim 11 wickets. Besides, he had an excellent IPL 2019. However, the selectors overlooked him for the World Cup. With the World Cup over now, the selectors have decided to groom Khaleel for future events. Khaleel’s left-arm bowling will add another flavor to the Indian bowling attack.