FANTASY
Follow UsWest Indies had a topsy-turvy start to their 2022. In January, they lost the ODI series to Ireland. A couple of weeks later, they picked themselves up to clinch the T20I series against England. Their next assignment has brought them to India for six games of white-ball cricket. The tour starts with the first ODI in Ahmedabad. India are also struggling in ODI cricket, winning only five of their last 15 ODIs.
It is expected to be a cracker of a contest. In this space, we provide you with valuable tips to build an efficient fantasy XI for this match.
Ground details and team combination
This is Ahmedabad’s first ODI in more than seven years. In the meantime, it didn’t host any List-A matches as well owing to the renovation. Hence, the 50-over data available is outdated. Estimating from the recent T20 cricket played here, the venue was host to some high-scoring matches during the India-England five-match T20I series around this time last year.
In recent times, pitches in India have been on the flatter side. In the last three ODI series played in India, each of those have witnessed a run rate of over 6. The last time West Indies toured in December 2019, the overall series run rate was 6.5. Against Australia in 2020, the series run rate was around 6.1 and in the last home series against England in 2021, the run rate was at 6.7. Interestingly, in each of the bilateral series between the two teams in India since 2000, the run rate has never dropped below the 5.5 run mark. Yet another high-scoring series cannot be discounted.
Keeping that in mind, top-order batters become important. However, West Indies’ top three have a dwindling record of late - averaging only 27.2 runs per wicket since 2021. Also, dew can have its effect later in the evening.
Team suggestion
Captain selection
Skipper Rohit Sharma will be returning to ODI cricket nearly after a year. In his first series as India’s full-time white-ball captain, he will be motivated to levee an impact, especially after missing the previous series. Moreover, Rohit boasts of an excellent record against West Indies. In 31 ODI knocks against the Caribbeans, Rohit averages 60.9 at a strike-rate of 90.6, including three hundreds. All these three tons have come on the home turf, where the average and the strike-rate shoot up to 80 and 100.3 respectively.
Our Criclytics Player Projector predicts that Rohit will score between 32 and 48 runs in the first ODI
X-Factors
In a handful of ODIs, Deepak Chahar has left his mark as an all-rounder. In six matches, he has snaffled eight wickets. With his sharp swing, he can wreck West Indies’ weak top-order early on. Chahar also has two fifties down the order and can contribute with the bat if it comes to that.
Romario Shepherd is growing in stature as an all-rounder. Ever since he unlocked his batting potential in the 2021 CPL season, he has been contributing with the bat whenever he gets a chance. In the second ODI against Ireland, he scored 50 off 41 balls batting at number nine. In the second T20I against England, he hammered an unbeaten 44 off 28 balls. Batting is not even Shepherd’s prime skill. He will be one of the frontline pacers in the West Indies’ XI if he gets a chance.
Here are the top-10 picks as per Criclytics projected points-
Probable XIs:
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Washington Sundar, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal
West Indies: Shai Hope (wk), Brandon King, Darren Bravo, Nicholas Pooran, Shamarh Brooks, Kieron Pollard (c), Jason Holder, Fabian Allen, Romario Shepherd, Hayden Walsh, Kemar Roach