Virat Kohli chases Kumar Sangakkara's record and other talking points ahead of fourth ODI

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  • Virat Kohli is a man on a mission. Image courtesy - BCCI/Twitter.

    The historic Brabourne stadium in Mumbai will play host to the all-important fourth ODI between India and the West Indies on Monday as the series veers towards it conclusion.

    The two teams are locked at 1-1 in the five-match series after West Indies pulled off a 43-run win in the third ODI at Pune on Saturday.

    Less than 48 hours after the clash, the two teams will be at it again with the series there for the taking. Here, we look at the key talking points ahead of the Mumbai ODI.

    KEDAR JADHAV SET FOR RETURN

    It has been an interesting last few days for Kedar Jadhav to say the least. The right-handed batting all-rounder was initially not picked in the squad for the last three ODIs with selectors citing his fitness troubles as the reason. Jadhav then himself declared he was fully fit in a press conference following his Deodhar Cup exertions.

    Following Jadhav’s statement, he was promptly drafted back into the side for the fourth and fifth ODI in a bizarre sequence of events. However, now that he is back in the squad, skipper Virat Kohli will have no hesitation playing Jadhav on Monday following his post-match comments after the Pune loss.

    “Kedar comes into the side in the next game, that’ll give us the balance and depth in the batting. You will always drift to one side when you don’t have the balance. We have to think about the perfect balance we need,” Kohli said.

    With that said, who in the batting line-up makes way for the 33-year-old remains to be seen. Kohli has the option of dropping a bowler to make room for Jadhav or sacrifice someone like Rishabh Pant in the batting line up.

    Jadhav is a certainty to play on Monday.

    Jadhav is a certainty to play on Monday.

    SANGAKKARA’S RECORD IN KOHLI SIGHTS

    While India’s overall performance in the series so far will not please Kohli, the Indian skipper will be delighted with his own personal form.

    Continuing his sensational year in all formats, Kohli slammed his third consecutive ton in the series in the loss at Pune. His innings of 107 on Saturday means that the right-hander has become the first Indian batsman to register three ODI tons on the bounce.

    Now, the 29-year-old has another record on his sights set by Sri Lanka great Kumar Sangakkara in the 2015 ICC World Cup. The left-hander had registered four successive hundreds during that tournament which is the most by any batsman in ODI cricket.

    Kohli could level that record should he notch up another ton at Mumbai and with the way he has been batting this year, you cannot discount that possibility.

    VISITORS HAVE UNIQUE RECORD IN SIGHTS

    What a difference a format makes! The Windies were down and out after their humbling in the preceding Test series with no-one giving them a sniff of a chance in the ODIs.

    Now, after three ODIs, they find themselves level with the No2 ranked outfit in the world and could very well have been ahead by 2-1 if not for their late lapse in concentration in the tied match at Vishakapatnam.

    With two matches left to go in the series, Jason Holder’s men have a chance to carve a unique record for themselves. Since October 2016, no visiting team has won two matches in an ODI series against India. The tourists could become the first ones to do so if they manage a win in Mumbai or the final ODI at Thiruvananthapuram.

    Should they win both the matches, they will become the first visiting team to win an ODI bilateral series in India since South Africa won a five-match series 3-2 in October, 2015.

    Holder and his men can create history with one more win.

    Holder and his men can create history with one more win.

    LIKELY XIs

    India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (capt), Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah.

    West Indies: Kieran Powell, Chanderpaul Hemraj, Shai Hope (wk), Marlon Samuels, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Jason Holder (capt), Fabian Allen, Ashley Nurse, Obed McCoy, Kemar Roach.

    WHEN: Monday, October 29

    WHERE: Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

    TIME: 12:00 GST

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