With the Test series between India and the West Indies done and dusted, the two sides will not turn their attention to the five-match ODI series which gets underway at Guwahati on October 21.
With the 2019 ICC World Cup in England now under eight months away, India will be hoping to use the series as a drawing board for the preparations for the tournament.
With the team for the World Cup still taking shape, plenty of Indian players will have a lot at stake in the clashes against the Windies.
Here, we look at three India players who will be under pressure to perform for various reasons.
UMESH YADAV
The pacer only finds himself in the squad after an injury ruled out Shardul Thakur for the series but he will be itching to carry over his excellent Test form into white-ball cricket.
Buoyed by his man-of-the-match display in the second Test against the Windies where he became only the third Indian pacer to pick up a 10-wicket match haul at home, Umesh Yadav will be hoping to ruffle some Windies feathers in the ODI series as well.
The 30-year-old has been unfortunate to fall behind in the pecking order of India’s pace battery of late but he has sent a timely reminder of his prowess with his showing in the Hyderabad Test.
Umesh will be eager to grab the opportunity with both hands after having played only 10 ODIs for India since the turn of 2017. A formidable showing in the one-day series could help the fast-bowler stake a permanent claim to a World Cup berth and given some of his sensational spells in the IPL for Royal Challengers Bangalore this year, that scenario could very much be a possibility.
Umesh has a chance to reaffirm his limited-overs credentials.
MS DHONI
When the year began, MS Dhoni was a certainty to take the gloves for India in the 2019 World Cup. However, with seven months or so left to go for the global showcase, the veteran’s position in the squad is suddenly in jeopardy for the first time.
Dhoni has endured a dismal 2018 with the bat in hand although his glove work remains impeccable. In 10 ODI innings this year, the 37-year-old has been only able to muster a paltry 225 runs at an average of just over 28. The India stalwart has failed a register a single half-century this year and was even booed by certain sections of the crowd for his slow batting strike-rate during India’s tour of England.
The selectors have handed Rishabh Pant a call up to the ODI squad after the young wicketkeeper batsman’s stellar Test outings. Whether Dhoni is given the gloves for the Windies series remains to be seen but he will know that he has a hungry youngster breathing down his neck when he next comes out to bat.
A hungry Rishabh Pant is breathing down Dhoni’s neck.
KL RAHUL
It has been quite the year for KL Rahul who came storming back into form with a stupendous individual campaign for the Kings XI Punjab in the IPL. That form saw the Karnataka batsman given an extended run as India’s Test opener in the tour of England but he failed to take his chance bar a fine knock of 149 in the final match at the Oval. Those Test disappointments have followed Rahul all the way to India with another poor show in the series against the Windies ensuing.
His poor form in international cricket has not just been limited to the Test format. The 26-year-old scored only nine runs in two ODIs against England and that form saw his get just one solitary game in India’s title-winning Asia Cup campaign despite Virat Kohli being given a rest. The sole appearance came in the dead-rubber clash against Afghanistan where Rahul put together an innings of 60.
With Ambati Rayudu pushing his case for inclusion in the World Cup squad with a fine Asia Cup showing, there won’t be many more chances for Rahul to finally come good.
KL Rahul is running out of chances.
