2 mistakes and 1 masterstroke by India in the 3rd ODI vs West Indies
Team India's World Cup preparations saw a brief lift in fortunes as the Men in Blue registed an emphatic 200-run win against West Indies in the final ODI to seal the three-match series by a 2-1 margin.
India will now turn their attention to the shortest format, with them slated to play five T20Is against the hosts. Their main focus, though, will be on the 50-over format, where they need to answer a few more questions before finalizing their squad for the quadrennial extravaganza at home.
Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid and the rest of the team management will have an eye on their performances in the Caribbean, particularly in the series-deciding third ODI. They made a couple of curious decisions in Trinidad, although others should simultaneously be applauded.
Here are two mistakes and one masterstroke made by Team India in the third ODI against West Indies.
#3 Mistake - Hardik Pandya took the new ball ahead of Jaydev Unadkat, who wasn't even first change
Team India fielded Umran Malik in the first two ODIs, but the express pacer bowled only three overs in each game and was expensive. The Men in Blue then decided to stick him on the bench and hand Jaydev Unadkat, who last played an ODI in 2013, another cap.
In white-ball cricket, Unadkat is a new-ball specialist who needs to be allowed to shine, but he didn't bowl in the powerplay. In fact, the left-arm seamer was brought on as the second change, after Mukesh Kumar, Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur.
There was seam movement on offer with the new ball, and Unadkat could've harnessed that to run through the West Indian top order and give Mukesh company from the other end. However, Hardik, as he has done so often in the past while captaining, decided to take up the responsibility himself.
Hardik definitely needed to get some overs under his belt, but he could've done that after the frontline fast bowlers were put in a position to succeed.
#2 Masterstroke - The Men in Blue continued to keep Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli out
Rohit Sharma batted at No. 7 in the first ODI, a game in which Virat Kohli didn't come out to the crease. The veteran duo were then removed from the playing XI for the second contest, with Hardik Pandya captaining the side.
India lost the second ODI in rather concerning fashion, and the series was on the line as the caravan shifted to Trinidad. The Men in Blue might've been tempted to bring their big guns back, but they wisely stuck to their strategy of experimentation and continued to keep Rohit and Kohli out.
India wouldn't have gained any new insights by fielding their superstar duo, even if it might've been the right course of thinking to seal the series. Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan all made contributions with the bat, giving the management and selectors some more clarity.
At the same time, however...
#1 Mistake - India dropped Axar Patel and Umran Malik for the decider
Keeping Rohit and Kohli out was commendable, but why did India decide to drop Umran Malik and Axar Patel for the series decider? Did they really need to play Ruturaj Gaikwad at No. 3 and Jaydev Unadkat in the bowling department?
Umran bowled a combined six overs in the first two ODIs, and although he was expensive, he wasn't given a reasonable chance to get into his ideal bowling rhythm. Several fans and experts even suggested that the team should bowl out his quota of overs in the decider.
Axar, meanwhile, got to face eight balls and bowled two overs in the second ODI in Barbados. The left-arm spinner was drafted into the side and immediately sacrificed to field Gaikwad, who looked shaky at No. 3 in his only chance of the series.
None of the players involved in this chopping and changing benefited from it, and India ended up with more questions than answers.