India vs West Indies 2018: 4 Indian players who can consolidate their place in the team during ODI series
The Indians will be up against the West Indies in the first of the five one-day international series on Sunday at Guwahati.
The 14 individual members in the Indian squad will have different aspirations to pursue going into the one-day series against the West Indies.
The Indian top-order consisting of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, and Virat Kohli will aim to enhance their reputation and form.
For players like Manish Pandey, K.L. Rahul, and M.S. Dhoni, it should be a career-saving or bursting series.
For the newcomers Rishabh Pant and Khaleel Ahmed, this series would be a moment to prove to the selectors that they belong here.
For the comeback men Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav, this series would be a fresh prospect to impress upon the selectors.
That leaves the squad with 4 Indian players who, with their performances, can strengthen their place in the team during the one-day series against the West Indies.
Here is a list of those 4 Indian players.
#1. Ambati Rayudu
Ambati Rayudu should owe his comeback to international cricket to IPL 2018. Based on his performances for the champions Chennai Super Kings, Rayadu was selected for the one-day series in England.
Unfortunately for him, he failed the mandatory yo-yo fitness test before the England tour. Rayudu had to wait for another 2 months before clearing the yo-yo test in his second attempt and getting selected for the Asia Cup.
In the absence of Virat Kohli in the Asia Cup, Rayudu got a wonderful opportunity to bat at No 3. He made use of that opportunity partially and scored 175 runs in 6 innings at an average of 44.
In the forthcoming one-day series against the West Indies, Rayudu is expected to bat at No 4. It will be another great opportunity for him to perform and consolidate his place in the team. In the absence of Dinesh Karthik and Kedar Jadhav, he is expected to have a long run in the series.
After his decent performances in the Asia Cup, Rayudu should have lesser pressure to perform instantaneously compared to KL Rahul and Manish Pandey. The Pant threat will be more on the other two players and MS Dhoni than on Rayadu.
The success in IPL 2018 has brought about a change in Rayudu’s style of batting. Nowadays, he is more aggressive and looks to win matches on his own. The good thing about him is that every time he has been given a chance due to the absence of some other key players, he has shown his utility to the team. But he has been in and out of the team due to no fault of his.
At 33, Rayudu has represented India in 40 ODIs only and scored 1230 runs at an average of 49. These are quite impressive figures. Now the time has come for him to make a long-lasting impact on what would be the second innings of his career.