Connect with us

Cricket

India vs West Indies 2nd ODI Preview

Written by Rick John Henry for @HollywoodbetsFollow them both on Twitter and Facebook now!


India vs West Indies | Saturday 11 October | Delhi | 11:00

To say that the West Indian performance on Wednesday was somewhat unexpected would be a massive understatement. Although the men from the Caribbean have shown a marked improvement in the limited overs formats in recent times, I had little confidence in their ability to put one over the hosts given the extraneous circumstances at play. Nevertheless, India succumbed to a heavy loss and with the World Cup just around the corner, will be disappointed in the lack of form coming from key members of the squad. The West Indies will still require something special to secure a series win, but it is not as though the squad members are strangers to hardship.

To Win
India 4/10
Tie 35/1
West Indies 21/10

India
With a maximum of nine matches left before the world’s number one ODI side travel to Australia and New Zealand to defend their World Cup title, the first fixture of this series highlighted some unexpected areas of improvement for the hosts. Conceding 321 on a typically Indian wicket, against a side typically known to struggle against spin on the subcontinent, must set off alarm bells. For a largely settled attack to completely lose control of the match in the manner that they did does not bode well for India’s title defence. Leg-spinner Amit Mishra struggled with his lines while Ravi Jadeja bowled a plethora of leg-side wides (giving away ten runs in one over as a result). Combined with Suresh Raina, the three of them went for 144 runs in 22 overs, picking up only two wickets. India went for 52 in the batting Powerplay and gave away 66 runs between overs 41 and 49, with fifteen coming off the last. Ishant Sharma is to replace the injured Mohit Sharma, leaving India a death bowlers short. Yet captain MS Dhoni is “quite happy” with India’s death bowling.

Is Dhoni deluded or simply just facetious? While T20 cricket has certainly changed the ODI game, going at 8.25 runs to the over towards the end is still not something to be celebrated, or indeed, content with. And while Dhoni and the team may back themselves to chase down 300+ totals – they have done it more often than any other current side – it is still no reason to be leaking runs. This is compounded by the fact that India could not even muster 200 on the wicket and were saved additional blushes by a persistent last-wicket stand. On the topic of batting and the weird and wonderful MS Dhoni, it may come as a surprise that he currently has the best batting average for all wicket-keepers over the past twelve months in ODI cricket. Watching him bat exclusively in the first ODI, it would come as a downright shock. To call his painful innings one of cricket strokes would paint a pretty awful picture of the game.

West Indies
No Narine, no Gayle, two losses to India A in the warm-up matches, a pay dispute resulting in the threat of a strike and ODI captain Dwayne Bravo dubbing West Indian morale as being at an “all-time low”. These were the conditions prior to the first ODI yet somehow the West Indies found the inspiration to the thump the world’s number one side at home. In a letter put forward by Bravo to the West Indies Players’ Association president Wavell Hinds it was indicated that players’ match fees had been decreased by 75%, with no rights compensation and close to no ICC fees. The new pay structure had been decided upon without any consultation with the players. A strike is still possible, though with the BCCI now playing the part of mediator, it seems that the tour will continue unaffected.

Following a bright start from the West Indian top order of Dwayne Smith and the two Bravos, Marlon Samuels and Denesh Ramdin came together for a record fourth-wicket partnership against India. They added 165 in 23.1 overs, Samuels continuing unbeaten to record 126 while Ramdin perished for 61. Samuels in particular seems to thrive in India as he now has eight 50+ scores in the country in international cricket. It was only a stubborn last-wicket stand from Ravi Jadeja and Mohammed Shami that prevented the biggest win in terms of runs for the West Indies against India in their history. While the West Indies flourished in the batting department, they also managed to bowl with discipline and control, using the conditions at their disposal perfectly. Jerome Taylor extracted pace, the other seamers were able to find a hint of movement off the pitch and the spinners hit the right lengths and flighted the ball nicely. Sulieman Benn simply suffocated the Indian batsmen. It has earmarked something of resurgence in West Indian cricket, as the side have won 60% of their one-day internationals over the past twelve months.

Venue
The Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi plays host to the second ODI and will no doubt be packed full of fervent Indian fans. India haven’t lost an ODI at the ground since Pakistan in 2005, where they succumbed by a massive 159 runs. That’s five matches unbeaten in Delhi, against the likes of England, Australia and rivals Pakistan. The last ODI played here was low-scoring, India dismissed for 167 before skittling Pakistan for ten runs less. The weather forecast is clear with no chance of rain.

BEST: Top West Indian Batsman, Denesh Ramdin 5/1
MS Dhoni was mentioned earlier in the article as having the best average for a wicket-keeper in ODIs over the past year. Not far behind is Denesh Ramdin, with the bulk of his runs coming within the last five matches. He averages 63.30 and has two hundreds, one against England and one against Bangladesh. Promoted to number five in the order, he has every chance of building on the previous year’s success here.

VERDICT: India 4/10
Despite India’s woeful performance coupled with West Indian dominance, I see the tables turned at the Feroz Shah Kotla. India will not want to leave anything to chance with the World Cup looming and eventually, the West Indian saga over wages will come back to haunt the side. On paper, India are pretty close to the complete package and I expect them to demonstrate that here.

Disagree with our tipster? Let us hear your thoughts. Please comment below.

More in Cricket