India vs West Indies ODIs: Top three player battles to watch out for | Cricket News

With the ODI World Cup later this year, it will serve as crucial match practice for the Indian players and will also give the team management and the selectors the chance to keep a close eye on the WC probables.

Again, on paper the series looks like a mismatch, with India ranked third in the world and the West Indies at tenth spot. The hosts, who failed to qualify for the upcoming ICC ODI World Cup, need to put up a good fight against the mighty Team India, who haven’t lost an ODI series against the Windies since 2006, to uplift their fans at home.
The odds are of course stacked heavily against them, but the home side still has quite a few individuals who can present strong challenges to their more fancied visitors.

Here Timesofindia.com highlights the top three player battles which could have a big impact on the outcome of the upcoming ODI series:
Rohit Sharma vs Alzarri Joseph

(Agency Photos)
The responsibility of stopping the ‘Hitman’ Rohit Sharma will lie a lot on the shoulders of the senior-most West Indies bowler in the squad – Alzarri Joseph. It will be a contest between one of the colossal figures of ODI cricket and the best Windies bowler who is still that rare all-format player – and its outcome will surely have a big impact on the series.
India skipper Rohit, with almost 10,000 ODI runs, is coming in with good form behind him, after scoring a hundred and two fifties in three innings – including his career’s fastest Test fifty, in the recently concluded Test series against the hosts. The only cricketer with three ODI double hundreds, including a world record 264, will be eager to maintain his good run in the ODIs too, arguably his favourite format. And he is just 175 runs shy of reaching the big milestone of 10K runs in ODIs.

Alzarri will lead a young West Indies bowling attack in the series. The pacer has a good record in ODIs — 101 wickets in 60 innings at 27.40. He also has a decent record against India – 20 wickets in 12 games. He will be key in stopping the India skipper from taking the game away from the hosts. Alzarri’s record at home in the Caribbean makes him a formidable adversary for Rohit, who has scored 1601 runs against them at an exceptional average of 57.17 which includes three hundreds and 12 fifties in 34 innings.
ODI records:
Rohit Sharma — M 243 | R 9825 | HS 264 | Av. 48.63 | SR 90.02 | 30x100s | 48x50s
Alzarri Joseph — M 61 | W 101 | BBI 5/56 | Av. 27.40 | Econ. 5.26 | SR 31.2 | 1x5w
Shubman Gill vs Oshane Thomas

(Agency Photos)
Another battle upfront between an India batter and a West Indies pacer which could have a big impact on the series is between young opener Shubman Gill and tall pacer Oshane Thomas.
The 23-year old Gill is one of the few all-format players for India after establishing himself as a top-order batter for the team in a short period of time. Gill is already among the few batters with centuries in all three international formats.
Gill will have to tackle the pace and bounce though of the six foot 6 inch tall Thomas in the series to maintain his already impressive record against the Windies in the ODIs, having scored 205 runs in just three innings so far. That’s a 102.50 average with a best score of 98 not out and two fifties, and it all came in the Caribbean on India’s last visit to the islands. He moved down to No.3 position, replacing veteran Cheteshwar Pujara, in the Tests but failed to click in the recently concluded series, and will be hungry for runs in the shorter format.
The 26-year old Thomas meanwhile is making a comeback to the West Indies ODI squad after more than three years. He last played an ODI for the Windies in January 2020, and will be eager to cement his place. The pacer brings in pace and wicket-taking options for the hosts. In the absence of the experienced Jason Holder and Kemar Roach, Thomas will play a big role in the Windies attack along with Alzarri Joseph. He doesn’t have a good record against the visitors – just two wickets in four ODIs, but boasts a brilliant record at home in the format. Thomas has taken 12 wickets in six ODI innings at home at a very good average of 23.50.
ODI records:
Shubman Gill — M 24 | R 1311 | HS 208 | Av. 65.55 | SR 107.10 | 4x100s | 5x50s
Oshane Thomas — M 20 | W 27 | BBI 5/21 | Av. 32.07 | Econ. 6.73 | SR 28.5 | 1x5w
Yuzvendra Chahal vs Shimron Hetmyer

(Agency Photos)
West Indies will be banking on swashbuckling batter Shimron Hetmyer to produce the goods for the hosts in the middle overs, and he could face a tough challenge from India’s wicket-taking wrist spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. Both are making comebacks in their respective ODI squads, Hetmyer after almost two years and Chahal after six months, and will be looking to make this series count.
Chahal is a big part of India’s white-ball scheme of things and with the ODI World Cup at home later in the year, he will be eager to make a strong case for himself. He is a match winner in the shorter format, but his one-dimensional ability has left him out of the squad more often than he would have desired. He also boasts a terrific record against the Windies in ODIs – 20 wickets in 10 games, and is coming off a good IPL season.

Chahal’s Rajasthan Royals teammate Hetmyer, who has an impressive record against India, is also coming off a good IPL season. The last time the hard hitting batter played an ODI series against India, Hetmyer scored a career-best 139 off 106 in Chennai. And in 12 games against the visitors, Hetmyer has scored 500 runs at 45.45 average including two hundreds and a fifty. He boasts an excellent strike rate of 121.35 against India. Apart from making a comeback, his record against the visitors makes him an asset for the hosts.
ODI records:
Yuzvendra Chahal — M 72 | W 121 | BBI 6/42 | Av. 27.13 | Econ. 5.26 | SR 30.9 | 2x5w
Shimron Hetmyer — M 47 | R 1447 | HS 139 | Av. 35.29 | SR 106.39 | 5x100s | 4x50s