 Indian team knows they survived a scare in the first ODI at Sabina Park, Kingston, having taken a 1-0 lead in four match series they need to maintain the same level of intensity which they have showed in past to take an unbeatable lead of 2-0. West Indies is suddenly not an easy team to beat in their backyards. Past records are also in favour of West Indies where India manage just one series win on last five tours.
India somehow manage to win first ODI’s by the margin of 20 runs at Kingston, Jamaica after setting a mammoth total of 339/6 on the board. Who have though that West Indies needing 75 runs in last eight overs with three wickets in hand will reach that much closer? Indian captain MS Dhoni did not appear to be a happy man as he shook hands with the West Indian batsmen after the game and in post match presentation also he indicated that his boys has thought that game was in their bag in the 42nd over and that was the big mistakes for his team. It was Ashish Nehra who bagged two crucial wickets in the end that save India from loosing the game after dominating the game for almost 42nd over of West Indian innings. Indian team has few sign of concern, first is how to handle the short pitch stuff from West Indian pace attacks and second is their bowling department. Ishant Sharma looks really way wards with his line and length. In batting also India need to shot out the issue very quickly because is such short series you don’t have too much time to bounce back. Bowling in the slog overs continued to remain an area of concern for India as home side was in the game till the end despite the tourists plucking seven wickets in 40 overs. They conceded 29 runs in extras. West Indies did well to get so close to a monstrous target but they could have done better and pulled off a stunning chase if one of their top-order batsmen played a long innings. Four batsmen Gayle Morton, Srawan and Chanderpaul really started well but they didn’t batted till end otherwise the results could have been different for West Indies. Watch out for Yuvraj Singh: A man on mission. In the absence of Sehwag, Sachin and Raina he has taken the entire burden on his shoulders and that showed in the previous game. With his team 32/2 he showed his calm and collectiveness and in the end he showed how dangerous he can be when he is in full flow. Chris Gayle: He has given his team a perfect start in the last game but didn’t carry his inning longer and that was the reason West Indies fail short by 20 runs. His hard hitting ability can be seen once again at flat Sabina Park. Pitch & Condition The pitch at Sabina Park, Kingston will be good wicket for batting and once again team winning the toss would love to bat on the wicket. As we have seen in the last game with short boundaries it was easy for both the teams to hit sixes and we can expect more in today’s encounter. Any score above 300 plus will be defendable total on this wicket. Teams India may opt to go with Praveen Kumar instead of expensive Ishant Sharma. Otherwise rest of the team looks settled. West Indies captain Chris Gayle may opt for Ravi Rampaul instead of Lionel Baker who was not impressive in the last game. Likely Playing XI for both Teams (Match is Schedule to begin at 20:00 PM India Time) India Squad: Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni (Captain & WK), Yuvraj Singh, S Badrinath, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, RP Singh, Ashish Nehra. West Indies Squad: Chris Gayle (Captain), Runako Morton, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Bravo, Denesh Ramdin (WK), Jerome Taylor, Ravi Rampaul, Suleiman Benn, Ravi Rampaul. Stats There was total 23 sixes hit in the last game and that was the most number of sixes hit in a game in West Indies. Yuvraj Singh blistering 131 was the second highest score by a batsman in West Indies. J.Taylor figures of 1 for 74 were his most expensive spell in one day international. |
