India vs West Indies 2019: India's ideal XI for the 3rd ODI
The Indian side will be riding high on confidence after they comprehensively defeated the West Indies team in the second ODI and leveled the 3-match series 1-1. Now both the teams will face off in the decider of the series this Sunday at Cuttack.
Openers who failed to produce a substantial partnership in the first ODI put on a superlative 227 run partnership in the second ODI. Rohit Sharma scored his 28th ODI century whereas his partner in crime KL Rahul scored his 3rd ODI hundred. The middle-order batsmen utilized the strong platform provided by the openers and propelled the team's score to a mammoth 387.
Virat Kohli endured a rare failure in ODIs turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the team management as the youngsters Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant got a chance to showcase their skills in a pressure situation. Both displayed their attacking prowess in the slog overs and helped India in setting up a massive target for the Caribbean side to chase.
Defending a huge total, Indian bowlers who failed in the first match struck at regular intervals this time around and halted the big-hitting West Indies team from chasing the target. Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Shami picked up 3 wickets each. India will be entering the third ODI as favourites, considering their recent form. They did lose the first ODI but they made an emphatic comeback in the second ODI and won it convincingly. The wicket at Cuttack is expected to assist batters so expect a run-fest this Sunday.
Coming to the team composition, India's top-order comprising Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Virat Kohli is arguably the most formidable one at the moment. Kohli has had a quiet series till now so he will raring to make a mark and play a match-winning knock in the series decider. Iyer and Pant have performed well in both the matches of this series and the skipper will expect them to continue their good work in the middle order. So ideally India doesn't need any alterations in the batting line-up.
Kedar Jadhav and Ravindra Jadeja might hold on to their places due to a lack of viable replacement options. In the bowling department, the team management will have to make a forced change as Deepak Chahar has been sidelined due to an injury. Navdeep Saini will in all likelihood replace him in the playing XI for the next match. Apart from one change, India should ideally continue with the same combination for the 3rd ODI.
Ideal XI: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Navdeep Saini