IND tour of WI 2023
WI vs IND, 3rd ODI

Preview

After receiving a befitting, reply from the Hosts in the second ODI, the Caribbean side put up a strong show in the previous ODI to level up the series by 1-1. The third and final ODI match of the series will take place on Tuesday, August 01 at 07:00 PM. Shai Hope-led WI took advantage of the Visitors' complacency and defeated them by 6 wickets in the absence of team India's gun batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. This win surely boost the Hosts' confidence as they won an ODI match against Men in Blue after 9 ODIs. The battle moves to a series decider, where WI and IND both will be eyeing to seal the series by 2-1.

Men in Blue won the last 9 matches and faced a defeat in the single ODI. Skipper Rohit Sharma will field their full-strength side in this series decider and come hard at Windies after he was rested in the last match. WI has been plagued by inconsistency, and the Hosts must battle it in the third ODI. It will be interesting to see if the Hosts can beat Men in Blue and earn a rare series win against them after failing to qualify for the World ODI series.

WI grabbed the opportunity that the IND threw at them in the last game with both hands by dominating them. Having lost the first ODI by a big margin, Shai Hope-led side made a strong comeback with their bowling attack destroying Indian batting in cluster after a solid partnership from both the Indian openers. It will be a tougher challenge as the Rohit Sharma-led IND shall field their key players in the series decider.  

The Hosts will be looking for a good start from both the openers as IND's new ball attack will probe them. Windies' skipper Shai Hope played well in the last ODI and will have an important role in the middle order with the likes of Alick Athanaze and Hetmyer. Though the end-overs specialist Keacy Cartly and Romario Shephard will try to steal as many as runs they can.  

From the bowling point of view, WI needs good spells with the new ball from Kyle Mayers and Jayden Seals to destroy India's top order. Both the bowlers bowled well in the last ODI. Alzarri Joseph who took 2/35 and Gudakesh Motie who also scalped 3/36 scripted the Hosts' win in the last ODI, and both bowlers' roles will be crucial. WI will also expect a good show from Romario Shepherd who also claimed 3/37 in the last match and Cariah in the supporting role who took 1 wicket as well.

It was a real upset for team India who struggled in the first two ODI with the bat as IND's middle order completely failed to score runs against WI. In the last game team India was bowled out for 181 runs in 40.5 overs with the courtesy of Ishan Kishan's 55 off 55. Skipper Rohit Sharma, will look to erase the loss in the Previous match under the leadership of Hardik Pandya, where the team management paid the price for complacency in picking the senior players. IND's 20-year-old record against the WI is at stake in the series decider, and Rohit Sharma will look to lead from the front and guide his side to a series win.  

Team India will look to offer a good start in this game with the pair of Ishan and Gill if Rohit bats down the order once again as WI's new ball attack did well in the last game. The run machine Virat Kohli brings vast experience to the middle order and will look to do well with the middle-order batters like SKY, Hardik Pandya, Shardul Thakur, and Ravindra Jadeja, and they will look to do the big-hitting.  
 
India will expect a good spell with the new ball from Hardik Pandya and Mukesh Kumar, as WI has got some good stroke players in the side. The gun bowler Umran Malik must make good use of his pace and put the WI under pressure along with Thakur. Kuldeep Yadav who have taken five wickets in 2 matches and Jadeja also who has taken 3 wickets in the ODI series so far. India will be expecting a good show from the spinners in this match as well.

Both sides have faced each other in 141 matches in ODI. Out of these 141 matches, IND has won 71 whereas WI has won 64 times. 4 matches ended without a result between both sides. 2 matches ended with a tied.

Match Details

Match: IND tour of WI 2023, WI vs IND 3rd ODI 

Date: Monday, July 31, 2023 

Time: 07:00 PM IST

Venue: Brian Lara Stadium, Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies

Pitch and Weather Report

This venue has been a good ground for the batters as they have been able to free their arms given the shorter dimensions of the ground. Seamers must use the new ball to earn their rewards in this match. Spinners do well here on Brian Lara Stadium which tends to offer them good turn and bounce regularly.

The sky for August 01 on this venue doesn't look encouraging, as we might see another spell of rain in the final ODI match of the series. The track assists the bowlers, and batters have found it hard to hit the ball. Both sides must be watchful and get their eyes in before playing their strokes. The team winning the toss would like to bat first and would be happy with a score above 290 runs on this wicket.

WI vs IND Squads

WI: Shai Hope (c), Rovman Powell (vc), Alick Athanaze, Yannic Cariah, Keacy Carty, Dominic Drakes, Shimron Hetmyer, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Gudakesh Motie, Jayden Seales, Romario Shepherd, Kevin Sinclair and Oshane Thomas.

IND: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shardul Thakur, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, Mukesh Kumar.

WI vs IND Probable Playing XIs

WI: Shai Hope (c & wk), Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Alick Athanaze, Shimron Hetmyer, Keacy Carty, Romario Shepherd, Yannic Cariah, Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Jayden Seales

IND: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan (wk), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Umran Malik, Shadul Thakur, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mukesh Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav

Match Prediction

The Hosts did well in the last game but WI had struggled to maintain consistency in the ODI format. WI's batters and bowlers must come up with a good show for the side to win here and seal the series by 2-1. But team India will field a full-strength side in this contest. IND has a good record against WI and shall start favourites. We say IND to win the series by 2-1.

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