India missing key players, but pressure entirely on West Indies

India start the ODI series against West Indies on Friday tonight fundamentally looking for answers to their selection options for the T20 World Cup going ahead.

The T20WC begins in Australia in the third week of October and there is still a great deal of suspense about which players will make the cut.

While the current tour also includes a 5-match T20 series to follow the ODIs, the team management and selectors see both white ball contests in conjunction to shortlist, if not finalise, the squad for the WC. For the West Indies, however, the issue is not restricted only to the T20 WC, but also the 50-over ODI World Cup to be played in India in 2023.

To play in that tournament, all teams have to go through a qualifying league.  India, of course, qualifies automatically as the host country. West Indies obviously don’t have such benefits and their recent performances have been alarmingly poor. Remember, the West Indies set the benchmark for excellence in 50-over cricket winning the first two editions in 1975 and 1983. Since then, they’ve struggled to make it to the knock-out stages.

In recent months, they have suffered a worrying slump, including losing 0-3 to Bangladesh on home pitches earlier this month. So, home advantage is unlikely to be a big factor in the series against India. If anything, it will only add to the pressure on the West Indies players who will have to meet the high expectations of a demanding cricket following in the Caribbean.

Currently languishing at no.9 in ICC ODI rankings, the once mighty force in this format will have to to pull out something special against Shikhar Dhawan’s team who come on the back of a confidence boosting 2-1 series win over England.

What will be some relief for the West Indies is the absence of stellar players Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, K L Rahul and Mohamed Shami in India’s squad. All seven have been rested to manage their load or, in Rahul’s case, recover from injury/surgery recovery considering the demanding assignments on the horizon.

Kohli, Bumrah, and Shami haven’t travelled to the West Indies. While Rohit is on the tour, he will not play the ODIs, but return to lead in the T20s. Pant returns for the T20s after skipping the ODIs, as will Rahul.

How much will this affect India’s prospects in the series which starts today?

Not having players of the caliber of Sharma, Kohli, Rahul Pant, Bumrah and Shami is obviously a handicap. Sharma didn’t make big scores, but looked in sterling form in the white ball matches against England. Bumrah, of course, excelled in all three formats and was India’s most valuable player on that trip, his only rival being Rishabh Pant who smashed a century in the Edgbaston Test as well as the last ODI.

Luckless Shami didn’t have many wickets to show in England, but no opponent takes his skills lightly. Moreover, when he and Bumrah are bowling in tandem, the Indian pace attack becomes formidable.

However, despite these big guns being absent, the Indian squad is still very strong, and made up by a good combination of experience and youth. Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal are the senior pros in the side, with experience of a decade or more at the highest level.

The next rung comprises players like Suryakumar Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Deepak Hooda Shubhman Gill, Axar Patel, Mohamed Siraj who may not have the international experience like the earlier cluster, but have played extensively in domestic cricket and for India A.

The last cluster is of newbies like Ruturaj Gaikwad, Avesh Khan, Ishan Kishan, Arshdeep Singh, all extremely talented youngsters who have put their seniors under pressure to retain their places, not just in ODIs but also in T20s.

The pressure will be largely on Nicholas Pooran and Co to throw up worthwhile challenge to a team that has been on a winning spree in this format for some while now. Jason Holder’s return after a period of rest will give the West Indies much needed heft in batting and bowling. The former captain is among the best all-rounders in the current game

And has a very good home record.

But Holder alone is unlikely to swing the series his team’s way. Not long back, the West Indies ODI team included Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell and Kieron Pollard, all match winners in this format. None of these four is around now.

Gayle and Bravo pulled the plug on their international careers last season, Kieron Pollard did it this season – a decision that took many by surprise. Russell is still available for T20 internationals, but has been non-committal about ODIs and not considered.

That leaves a heavy burden for new captain Nicholas Pooran to carry.

A free-stroking left-hander, Pooran is regarded to have a good cricketing brain. He also has some exciting players at his disposal. Kye Mayers and Shai Hope in the top order have experience and calibre. Rovman Powell has shown he has his big-hitting ability, and all-rounders Romario Shepherd, Akeal Hossein add depth to batting and bowling.

Young Alazarri Joseph, who can work up express speed with strong wicket taking credentials, is the spearhead of an attack that has a good mix of pace and spin, with Holder’s return giving it more teeth.

But so far the anticipated revival in fortune and sustained success that makes for a strong team has proved elusive. This series will show how well Pooran has settled into the captaincy role, and if the West Indies can jell into a match-winning unit. On this rests their passage into next year’s ODI World Cup.