India face the West Indies in a blockbuster clash at Old Trafford. India come off a nail-biting victory against Afghanistan whereas the Windies will hope to bounce back from a heart-breaking loss to New Zealand.
Head to Head:-
Image source — Hindustan Times
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India have a 5–3 lead over the West Indies in World Cups and have been on the winning side in their last three meetings.
Predicted Teams In India vs West Indies Match:-
Bhuvneshwar Kumar was seen bowling in the nets, but India will not rush him back to action. Mohammad Shami’s heroics against Afghanistan showed India’s frightening squad depth. India are likely to remain unchanged. This means giving Vijay Shankar another chance to impress at #4. He failed to convert a good start against Afghanistan but played out the spin threat with ease.
Evin Lewis limped off with a dodgy hamstring against New Zealand. Sunil Ambris, who was flown in as Andre Russell’s replacement, will look to slot in to the opening position. West Indies will bank on their batting to come good. Their bowlers, who initially lit the tournament up with their short-pitched bowling have now become predictable and will look to change their approach against an Indian side which has shown weaknesses against spin.
Image Source — Outlook India
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India:- Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli ©, Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav
West Indies:- Sunil Ambris, Chris Gayle, Shai Hope (wk), Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder ©, Carlos Brathwaite, Ashley Nurse, Kemar Roach, Oshane Thomas, Sheldon Cottrell
Fact: Against Afghanistan, India’s playing XI contained players from 11 different Ranji Trophy teams.
Pitch and Conditions In India vs West Indies Match:-
Conditions are expected to be overcast on Thursday. Manchester experienced intermittent rain this week, resulting in what appears to be a green pitch with lots of moisture underneath. Seam bowlers will enjoy bowling on this deck but as the new ball wears off, the pitch will not aid the spinners, easing run-making.
Strategy:-
India’s slow powerplay starts have provided a good platform for the middle-order and finishers to go hard in the slog overs. India will likely stick to this approach, seeing the new ball off and then counter-attacking. The West Indies pacers need to experiment by bowling a fuller length to the Indian openers or gamble by giving Ashley Nurse a go in the powerplay.
India will be wary of Chris Gayle’s notoriously slow starts and will look to pile the pressure on him. Spinners Kuldeep and Chahal have shown that they can trouble batsmen even on green tracks by using flight and dip.
X-Factors and Player Battles:-
Chris Gayle vs Jasprit Bumrah: Bumrah has been on fire this tournament, always delivering wickets when called upon and bowling tight spells in the powerplay and in the death. How Chris Gayle approaches Bumrah will be interesting to watch.
Oshane Thomas vs Vijay Shankar: While Vijay Shankar is a good player of spin, he does not favour short bowling. Oshane Thomas will look to exploit this weakness and have a crack at Dhoni as well.
Image source — indiatoday.in
Nicholas Pooran is a very good player of spin. He will look to attack Kuleep and Chahal and prevent them from settling.
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Originally published at Sporcial.
