India vs West Indies, 4th ODI: Key Observations
After a heartbreaking loss at Pune, the Indian Cricket Team bounced back strongly and showed that they are still a better side than West Indies. India outclassed Windies in all the departments and now lead the series by 2-1.
Toss:
After winning the toss India surprised everyone by deciding to bat first. This was because the pitch looked completely flat and there was nothing much for the bowlers. Also, most of the experts were of the opinion that after winning the toss India should look to chase because no score looked safe enough on that track.
Opening Partnership:
India had a decent start to their innings with both Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma were playing freely and were scoring at a brisk rate. Shikhar played some beautiful shots on both sides of the wicket but failed to convert his start into a big one.
Shikhar Dhawan needs a big score and that too quickly because KL Rahul waiting for his opportunity and if Dhawan fails to convert his good starts into big one then the Kings XI Punjab opener might get an opportunity.
Middle order:
It was heartening to see some runs being contributed by the middle order, especially by the number four Ambati Rayudu. The way he took the attack on the opposition was impressive. He also showed that when needed, he can shift gears and score quickly as per the situation of the match.
After Rayudu there was a quick little inning from MS Dhoni who played some delightful strokes and at the end, Kedar Jadhav showed his ability with the bat and took the team's total to 377 and also made a statement that he could be the finisher that India has been searching for.
Rohit Sharma:
One would run out of adjectives in order to define the way Rohit Sharma played his strokes, manipulated fields and he was looking set for another double hundred but unfortunately, there was no double hundred for Rohit this time.
But this innings was the perfect example of how to build an innings in ODI cricket. He started off briskly then slowed down a bit and then accelerated again before getting dismissed for 162.
Indian Bowling:
Indian bowlers bowled beautifully by pitching the ball in the right areas. The way Khaleel Ahmed bowled in this match was absolutely brilliant to watch. He swung the ball both ways. A left-arm pacer becomes more dangerous when he gets the ball back into the right-hander and this also shows that his wrist has improved from the previous games and credit must be given to him as he ran through the Windies' top order.
Once that happened, it was almost impossible for the visitors to make a comeback in this match and after that Jadeja and Kuldeep inflicted further damage and bundled West Indies for just 153 runs and won the match comprehensively by 224 runs.