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India takes on West Indies in a 3 match ODI series starting on December 15th. With the world test championship in progress and teams focusing on team building and formations before the T20 World Cup in 2020, the excitement around bilateral ODI’s tends to be less. But with 2 of the 3 ODI’s happening right before the IPL auction, some of the players will be looking to make a big impact in the series. Here we look at 5 players who can light up the ODIs between IND and WI.
Regarded as one of the finest young talents in West Indies cricket, he hasn’t been able to live up to the expectations in the last couple of years. But he managed to break the shackles in the 3 T20’s against India scoring 120 runs at an average of 40 and an impressive strike rate of over 150. So expect him to go all guns blazing in this series.
2. Virat Kohli
Unlike others on the list, he doesn’t have anything to prove. But with West Indies bowlers likely to get under his skin, the King is expected to be on fire. He has scored 6 hundred and 1 fifty in his last 10 encounters with the Windies and he is the only batsman to have scored more than 2000 runs against West Indies in ODI’s. So as always King Kohli show is on the cards in IND vs WI ODIs.
3. Shai Hope
Shai hopes love Asia. He averages close to 130 in Asia with 4 hundred and 2 fifties in just 11 innings that he’s played here. He also has an overall batting average of 61 against Asian teams. The power-packed West Indies batting lineup will be playing around Shai Hope, who will have to anchor the innings. So West Indies will be pinning their hopes on Shai Hope.
4. Mohammed Shami
With Burmah and Bhuvi injured, Shami will be leading the Indian pace arsenal. Despite not being a regular member of the Indian ODI setup, he’s still the 2nd leading wicket-taker in ODI’s in 2019. Windies batsman will have a tough time facing the fiery bouncers and bullet yorkers of Shami, who will be looking to cement his place in the ODI team.
5. Brandon King
This 24-year-old new West Indies batting sensation had an amazing CPL with Guyana Amazon Warriors wherein he scored 496 runs in12 innings at a strike rate of nearly 150. As he failed to make a big impact in the T20I’s against India, he will be raring to showcase his power-hitting abilities in the ODI series.
With the West Indies players playing for their IPL contracts, and Indian team almost settled, this ODI series promises to be a run fest. And when you have West Indies in India, entertainment is guaranteed for sure.