Ind vs WI 2022: 3 player battles to watch out for ahead of India's 2nd ODI against West Indies
India will square off against West Indies in the second ODI at the Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad on Sunday (July 24) with the hope of closing out the series. The first game was an absolute thriller, with the hosts falling short by just three runs.
While Shikhar Dhawan will largely go in for an unchanged unit, it remains to be seen if the Windies will ring in any new names in the all-important second match of the series. They are on a seven-match losing streak and will be keen to get out of that slump.
The player battles in the first match proved decisive and a similar outcome can be expected in the upcoming encounter. Ahead of the do-or-die match for Nicholas Pooran & Co, we look at the player battles to watch out for.
#1 India skipper Shikhar Dhawan vs Gudakesh Motie
Even as Shikhar Dhawan went about his business with his 99-ball-97, he would have wished he got the better of left-arm tweaker Gudakesh Motie. After playing a brilliant innings till that point, he slashed a full and wide delivery just to have it superbly caught by Shamarh Brooks at backward point.
Motie has shown that he can get the ball to turn away from the Indian batters. He also bagged Shreyas Iyer, who looked good after his fifty. Following a strong performance in the first ODI, he could be expected to be a thorn in the Men in Blue's efforts to seal the series on Sunday.
#2 Shai Hope vs Mohammed Siraj
Shai Hope will look to make a mark as he plays his 100th ODI on Sunday. He has been a batting mainstay for the hosts for some time now and the side will look to him to make a sizeable contribution with the bat despite failing in the first ODI.
Also keen to make the most of his opportunity will be Mohammed Siraj, who leads the pace unit in the absence of the big names. He did dismiss Hope in the first game and ended with 2/57 from his ten overs. The Indian seamer will look to have another wicket-filled outing at the Queen's Park Oval.
#3 Shubman Gill vs Alzarri Joseph
With regular openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul out of the series, the opportunity is perfect for Shubman Gill to cement his case as the backup opener. His fluency and stroke-making were on full display as he notched up a crisp 64 before being run out
Alzarri Joseph put his name in the wickets column by picking up two of them in the first ODI. He will be eager to add more to his tally and dismissing Gill would be the perfect signal to India's batting order that he could be a handful in the death overs.