India vs West Indies: Hits and Flops as the hosts completes a clean sweep after winning the 3rd ODI by 96 runs

The Men in Blue won the series against West Indies 3-0.

For the first time in history, India handed an ODI whitewash to the West Indies, beating them 3-0 in Ahmedabad. The Rohit Sharma-led unit steamrolled past the Caribbeans with ease in all three encounters.

After already securing the series, the Men in Blue defeated the visitors by 96 runs in the third ODI on Friday. Shreyas Iyer and a joint bowling effort helped India to another comprehensive victory over a Windies side full of frailties.

India had to deal with a top-order collapse after winning the toss and deciding to bat. The Men in Blue scored 265 runs thanks to contributions from the middle order, a total the visitors never threatened to reach.

WHAT. A. WIN! 👌 👌

@prasidh43 gets the last West Indies wicket & @imVkohli takes the catch as the @ImRo45-led #TeamIndia win the third @Paytm #INDvWI ODI by 96 runs to complete the series sweep. 👏 👏

Scorecard ▶️ bit.ly/INDvWI-3RDODI https://t.co/bR7KzaBTDx

The Indian bowlers continued where they left off in the second ODI and ransacked the Caribbean batting unit with no trouble.

On that note, let's take a look at some hits and flops from the match.

#4. Flop - Suryakumar Yadav (India)

Suryakumar Yadav played an exceptional knock in the second ODI, scoring 64 runs in 83 balls. He mixed aggression with vigilance and bailed his team out of trouble.

However, on Friday, the elegant batter tried to do too much early in his innings and got dismissed in the process. The 31-year-old came to bat in the 31st over following a marvelous partnership between Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant.

With India's score at 152-4 after 30 overs, Suryakumar was required to bat along with Iyer and take his side towards a challenging total. However, he threw his wicket at the 33rd over.

Suryakumar attempted to take the aerial route and went on to play his favorite inside-out shot against left-arm spinner Fabian Allen. As it turned out, the ball spun away from the right-hander. Suryakumar ended up slicing the ball towards backward point where Sharmarh Brooks took the catch.

His torrid time continued in the field as he put down a dolly of Mohammed Siraj's bowling at mid-off.

#3. Hit - Shreyas Iyer (India)

Shreyas Iyer scored a defiant half-century in the third ODI and proved his importance to the Indian middle-order yet again.

Returning to the side after recovering from COVID-19, Iyer made an instant impact and helped his team get out of trouble. Coming to bat at No. 4, he replaced Virat Kohli, who got out in the fourth over.

Iyer, who looked focused from the get-go, took some time to assess the pitch. He featured in a 110-run stand with Rishabh Pant for the fourth wicket to lift the hosts. Pant was the more aggressive of the duo and Iyer was content playing second fiddle.

Over the line 🏆🇮🇳 Bring on the T20s 🔥 https://t.co/7plfTBVniz

Iyer, who reached his ninth ODI fifty in 74 balls, manifested his tenacious character in the middle. He played a bold and gritty inning of 80 runs in 111 deliveries and helped India cross the 250-run mark. Iyer, who smashed nine boundaries during his innings, was even adjudged Player of the Match for his efforts.

#2. Flop - Virat Kohli (India)

Virat Kohli walks back after getting out in the 3rd ODI [P.C: BCCI]

Virat Kohli's meagre form with the bat continued as the forgettable ODI series against West Indies ended in a dismaying fashion for the veteran.

The former captain was dismissed for a two-ball duck by Alzarri Joseph after an unfortunate strangle down the leg side. Playing his 260th one-day international, Kohli walked to the middle following Rohit Sharma's dismissal in the fourth over.

However, the right-arm pacer made sure that Kohli didn't stay for long as he dismissed him for the second time in the series. The ball was fired down the leg and there was a slight misjudgment from the right-hander. Eyeing some easy runs, Kohli went on to flick the ball. However, he got a faint tickle off his bat which was easily gathered by the keeper.

Alzarri Joseph has dismissed Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the same game twice this series ⚡ https://t.co/jRmGNecCWr

Incidentally, this was also the second time in the series that Joseph took both batting giants in Rohit and Kohli in the same over.

Adding a further wait to his 71th century, Kohli departed back to the pavilion with an embarrassed smile on his face.

#1. Hit - Indian pacers

Deepak Chahar after getting a wicket in the 3rd ODI vs West Indies [P.C: BCCI]

The Men in Blue pacers put on a commanding show and never allowed the Windies batters to get into any kind of position to chase down the total.

With Deepak Chahar replacing Shardul Thakur for the game, India's pace attack looked more varied and threatening. Where Chahar and Siraj provided swing and seam with the new ball, Prasidh Krishna used his height to extract extra bounce from the surface. The three right-armers picked up eight wickets between them.

Prasidh Krishna was awarded the Player of the Series for his brilliant bowling performances 🏆🇮🇳

#India #WestIndies #INDvWI https://t.co/6UnyhfQpQu

Siraj opened the proceedings for the hosts as he trapped Shai Hope in front in the fourth over. In the following over, Chahar sent back Brandon King and Sharmarh Brooks within four deliveries. Coincidentally, this was the first time India had picked up three or more wickets during the first powerplay since October 2018 (50 ODIs ago).

The hero from the 2nd ODI, Krishna too got in on the act as he picked up the next two wickets of Darren Bravo and Jason Holder in his next two overs. This led Odean Smith to the crease, who created havoc by hitting three boundaries and three sixes. However, his entertaining innings came to an end when Siraj bowled a cross-seam short-pitched delivery which went straight at covers.

Krishna moped up the Windies lineup and ended with the figures of 3/27. Chahar and Siraj also registered excellent figures of 2/41 and 3/29, respectively.