3 positives for India from the 3rd ODI vs West Indies
Led by fifties from Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant as well as a complete bowling performance, India coasted to a whopping 96-run win in the third and final ODI against West Indies at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday, February 11.
Rohit Sharma's men have a few areas to address as they build towards the 2023 World Cup. Virat Kohli's form and the team's approach while batting first are among the kinks India will have to iron out in the near future. But it was mostly a productive series for the hosts, who took big strides towards answering some of the questions that have plagued them in ODIs recently.
Here are three positives for India from their comfortable win in the third ODI.
#3 India's middle-order batters applied themselves superbly
The second and third ODIs witnessed similar patterns. Batting first, India lost their top three batters cheaply and had to depend on the middle order to bail them out of trouble. And although the middle order has been under scrutiny over the last year or two, the batters delivered against West Indies.
In the third ODI, it was Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant who resuscitated the innings with a measured partnership. While Iyer was content to play second fiddle, Pant took on the bowling and took the pressure off his partner. Although Suryakumar Yadav failed in the dead rubber, the wristy batter has been extremely consistent in ODI cricket so far.
With others like KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda coming to the party as well, the Men in Blue seem much closer to addressing their middle-order woes than they were at the start of the series. Captain Rohit Sharma confirmed the same in the post-match press conference, applauding the middle-order batters for applying themselves and coming up with meaningful contributions.
#2 India now have two capable pace-bowling all-rounders in Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur
With Hardik Pandya missing in action and Venkatesh Iyer dropped from the ODI squad, India had to look elsewhere to fit in a pace-bowling all-rounder at No. 8. Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar have helped the Men in Blue resolve some of their qualms over the role by turning in meaningful performances with both bat and ball recently.
Shardul Thakur's last 4 ODI innings: 30, 50*, 40*, 8
Deepak Chahar's last 4 ODI innings: 6*, 69*, 54, 38
India are bridging the gap between their batters and bowlers smoothly! #INDvWI
At the end of the West Indies series, especially after the third ODI in which Chahar picked up two wickets and scored a counter-attacking 38, it's safe to say that India aren't completely lost when it comes to fast-bowling all-rounders. Both players should be central to the team's plans in the lead-up to the 2023 World Cup.
#1 India's pace battery is slowly shaping up
Thakur and Chahar weren't the only pacers to make an impression in the series. The third ODI confirmed that India now have two aggressive fast bowlers who can easily complement India's first-choice duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami.
Mohammed Siraj saved his best performance of the series for the third ODI, ending with three wickets including the early scalp of Shai Hope. Prasidh Krishna followed up his Player of the Match display in the second ODI with a three-wicket haul and walked away with the Player of the Series for his eight wickets. Both quicks bowled with pace and swing, and generated appreciable bounce off the helpful Ahmedabad surface.
After months of struggling with the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, especially in the first powerplay, India now have six solid pace-bowling options in ODIs. That might be their biggest takeaway from the third ODI and consequently the series.