India vs West Indies: 3 West Indies players who can trouble India in ODI series
After a disappointing series in South Africa, India will look to turn a new leaf under newly appointed captain Rohit Sharma when they take on the West Indies.
The visitors have reached Ahmedabad to play the ODI series. They come to India on the back of a superb T20I series win against England. The Caribbean players are used to the conditions in India and expect this series to be an evenly-fought contest.
To complicate matters for the Indian team, as many as five players have tested positive for Covid-19. The list includes batters Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad and reserve fast bowler Navdeep Saini.
This will be a new era for Indian cricket under Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid. They will be keen to start on a positive note.
Here we take a look at 3 players from West Indies who could pose a threat to India in the ODI series:
#3 Shai Hope
The wicket-keeper batter is a prolific run-scorer for West Indies in ODIs. He will be a key cog for the visitors on this tour. If we look at his numbers in ODIs, the right-hander has scored 3698 runs in 86 ODIs with a brilliant average of 52. He drops anchor at the top of the order and allows other stroke-makers to go after the bowling.
Over the last couple of seasons, the Indian bowling attack has not been able to get early wickets in the powerplay. This is where Shai Hope can pose a real threat. He is one of the biggest threats to the Indian attack and he is also adept at playing spin in the middle overs.
#2 Akeal Hosein
Left arm spinner Akeal Hosein has been a solid presence in the West Indies' limited overs squad ever since his ODI debut in January 2021 against Bangladesh. He has kept on improving since then. He became Kolkata Knight Riders' net bowler last season during the UAE leg in the 2021 Indian Premier League.
He has picked up 20 wickets in 12 ODIs for the Caribbean side. He relies a lot on accuracy and subtle changes of pace and could be a difficult proposition for the Indian batters. Apart from bowling, he has also proved his quality as a lower-order batter. He can use the long handle effectively and can tong the bowlers for big runs in the death overs.
#1 Nicholas Pooran
For all this talent and pedigree, Nicholas Pooran has not quite lived up to his potential. He had a miserable IPL 2021 with the Punjab Kings and followed it up with a poor showing at the T20I World Cup later that year.
However, he did show sparks of brilliance in the recently-concluded T20 series against England and could really be a match-winner in the upcoming series. He loves to take the aggressive route and can win matches single-handedly on his day.
He has scored 1060 runs in 34 matches at an average of 42, with a strike rate of 100.
Love what I do 💙 https://t.co/JAjcaUSqrX