Resurgent Windies look to draw level (Preview)

Twice West Indies pushed India to the limit only to be piped at the post by Rohit Sharma, who invariably found support from one of the many youngsters in the side. Finally, a persistent West Indies prevailed in the third ODI at Motera and in the process snapped India’s streak of eleven home wins. This result has thrown the series wide open as Darren Sammy and Co. now has an opportunity to build on the hard-fought victory.

Even though, Rohit Sharma left no stone unturned in taking his team home for the third time running, West Indies were alert enough to prevent an encore of the first two outings of the five match series. While Ravi Rampaul and debutant Sunil Narine took lead in restricting India but the victory was actually set up by fireworks from skipper Darren Sammy and Andre Russell.

As the tour has progressed, West Indies batsmen have got used to the spin-heavy bowling and slow pitches-Marlon Samuels and Lendl Simmons being the main benefactors. Their lower order has started to fire- before the Sammy-Russell show Ravi Rampaul had almost single-handedly won the second match for the Windies. India would be weary of that fire power, but consistency has not been forte of Windies batsmen in recent times.

For India, this series was supposed to an audition for the Australia tour. Accordingly, MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar were ‘rested’ and Virender Sehwag made skipper, who by the way has looked out of sorts in captain’s shoes thus far in the series.

One more thing worthy of mentioning is the performance of players who are looking to cement their spots. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, both contenders for that vacant number six spot in the Test line-up have batted superbly. Rohit’s sparkling 95 might have gone in vain but he definitely has buzzed the selectors’ radar with three consecutive fifties. Likewise, Kohli’s ton at Vizag was another reiteration of his talent. So, don’t be surprised if Irfan Pathan turns on the heat if given an opportunity in the last two one-dayers.

If India’s youngsters have gone all out to make an impression, the senior men have been no more than passengers. Even some of them are fighting for their places, the most vulnerable being Suresh Raina. Moreover, the opening pair of Sehwag and Gambhir has not been among the runs in the series. Before the tour down order, the remainder of the series gives them an opportunity to get back into form.

With India leading 2-1, West Indies’ first target would be restore parity but the hosts only need a win to clinch the series.

India Squad: Virender Sehwag (Capt), Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Parthiv Patel (wk), Rohit Sharma, Vinay Kumar, Irfan Pathan, Abhimanyu Mithun, Varun Aaron, R Ashwin, Manoj Tiwary, Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina, Ajinkye Rahane, Rahul Sharma.

West Indies Squad: Darren Sammy (c), Adrian Barath, Darren Bravo, Danza Hyatt, Anthony Martin, Jason Mohammed, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Kieran Powell, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons.