India and West Indies are set to resume rivalry in the fourth one-dayers slated to take place at a picturesque HPCA Stadium. The scenic beauty of this place is enough to mesmerize spectators, not only present at the stadium, but also those glued to their TV sets.
The stadium is one stunning facility in itself with the Himalayas surrounding the place and is a perfect location for both teams to seize the lead in the series. India have momentum in their side, after a thumping win in the second ODI and would like to take initiative in the series.
This, however, is not going to be an easy task for the men in blue seeing the lively surface and quality Windies pace attack. The pitch is expected to assist the seamers and will have zip and carry, which could fall in West Indies’ favour.
Jerome Taylor is in fine form and in the first one-dayer he ripped through the Indian batting order, while Ravi Rampaul and Darren Sammy can also trouble the opposition. The cooler conditions and light drizzles every now and then will assist them.
India also have more than decent pace attack, featuring in-form Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Shami, in particular, is in great touch and has already picked eight wickets in the series so far.
It would be interesting to see whether Mahendra Singh Dhoni include pacer Ishant Sharma into the playing XI. Ishant is a hit-the-deck-hard bowler and could exploit the conditions pretty well, but Umesh Yadav can also do the same.
Picking right bowling combination will be a challenge for MS Dhoni, as the pitch might not assist the spinners he can afford to play one more seamer and drop a spinner, most probably Amit Mishra.
India’s batting woes are yet to be sorted out, as after faltering in the opening match they didn’t do anything special in the second ODI. Dhoni, however, might be a bit relieved after Virat Kohli’s fifty, although he wasn’t in best of touches.
Bowling might be West Indies’ stronghold but they are vulnerable in the batting department, despite Marlon Samuels’ century in first match and Dwayne Smith’s fifty in the second match.
The West Indies lost the match from the winning position, the habit which has troubled them for a long period now. Their batting is unpredictable and can fall miserably in crunch situations.
Squads: India: MS Dhoni (c and wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Murali Vijay, Kuldeep Yadav & Akshar Patel.
West Indies: Dwayne Bravo (c), Dwayne Smith, Darren Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Marlon Samuels, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Andre Russell, Darren Sammy, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor, Sulieman Benn, Jason Holder & Leon Johnson.
Where to watch live
The second ODI between India and West Indies is scheduled to start at 2:30 pm IST, 9:00 am GMT at Feroz Shah Kotla, New Delhi. Viewers in India can catch the action live on Star Sports network, with live streaming option HERE. The match is available live on Ten Sports in Caribbean, while Willow TV will telecast the action online HERE & HERE in USA and Canada. Super Sports will telecast the match live in South Africa and sub-Saharan region with online streaming option HERE. Viewers in United Kingdom can watch the match on Sky Sports with online streaming option HERE.
