India vs West Indies 2019: India's ideal XI for the second ODI
India suffered a defeat in the first ODI match on Sunday at the hands of the visiting West Indies. The Caribbean team put up a strong show in both the bowling and batting departments, which resulted in a comprehensive victory for them.
The pitch at Chennai seemed slow throughout the game but Shimron Heytmer's individual brilliance along with Shai Hope's patient century helped West Indies register a win.
India will now be looking to get back to winning ways when they face the visitors at Vizag on Wednesday. The Men in Blue need to win the second ODI to keep the three-match series alive.
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In the first match we witnessed a rare failure of the top order batsmen. Virat Kohli and KL Rahul were dismissed for single-digit scores whereas Rohit Sharma got out after scoring a cautious 36 runs. This meant that the onus was on the youngsters like Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant to take India to a respectable first-innings total.
Both the players responded positively to the challenge and put on an impressive 114-run partnership which gave Team India a good platform. The Delhi Capitals teammates got out after scoring impressive 70s, and after their departure Kedar Jadhav and Ravindra Jadeja played decently in the slog overs to take India to 287.
That was considered as a par score at Chepauk. However, the hosts' bowlers didn't quite come to the party.
India's bowling attack has been highly consistent in 2019, and their contributions have played an instrumental role in ensuring multiple victories for the team. But in the last match, all the bowlers failed collectively.
None of them had an answer to Heytmer's onslaught, which led to one of the most one-sided ODI defeats for India in recent times.
On the batting front, Rohit and Kohli will be looking to score big in this encounter as it is a must-win game to keep the series alive. KL Rahul will get another opportunity in the opening position, and the team management will be hoping Iyer and Pant continue their good form.
India should ideally not make any changes to the top 5 of the batting order, as those players all seem well-suited to their roles at the moment.
Kedar Jadhav's waning all-round ability puts him at risk of losing his place in the playing XI. But fortunately for him, Shivam Dube didn't do well in the first ODI either.
India might look to drop either Jadhav or Dube to accommodate a specialist bowler. If they decide to select Shardul Thakur, then Dube will likely be dropped. But if they want to pick Yuzvendra Chahal, then Jadhav would make way for him in the XI.
Apart from this one change, India are likely to continue with the same combination for their next match. The fast bowlers Mohammad Shami and Deepak Chahar, along with the spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja, haven't done much wrong to warrant being dropped from the side.
Ideal XI: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav