by Elton Gomes
After a dominating performance in the first ODI, Virat Kohli and his team will look to emulate the same performance in the second ODI at Visakhapatnam.
The Windies put on a much-improved performance with the bat, but their bowlers were below par. Indias top order have not shown any weaknesses, though Kohli might want to improve his bowling attack.
The teams
It seems that the Indian squad might remain unchanged for the second ODI. The Indian team management have decided not to tinker with a 12-man team that chased down a competitive target of 323 with almost eight overs to spare in the first ODI. However, the playing 11 will be announced by captain Virat Kohli at the toss.
Spinners did the job for India in the first ODI, but the trio of Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, and Khaleel Ahmed were able to pick up only three wickets in their 30 overs. Kohli will have to manage with the three pacers since there is no other pacer in the team.
Few of the Windies, Marlon Samuels experienced a rare failure on Indian soil. He could definitely get more runs on the board. Kemar Roach and Jason Holder have not really posed any danger with the ball. If Samuels, Roach, and Holder click then India could have a formidable opponent in the Windies.
Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (capt), Ambati Rayudu, Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav could form the starting 11 for India.
The starting 11 for the Windies could include Kieran Powell, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Marlon Samuels, Shimron Hetmyer, Sunil Ambris, Shai Hope, Fabian Allen, Jason Holder (capt), Kemar Roach, Ashley Nurse, Devendra Bishoo.
Kohli, Dhoni, Sharma eye records
Virat Kohli has been in top form that he is now only 81 runs away from completing 10,000 runs in ODIs. Kohli will become the 4th Indian and 13th batsman overall to achieve this feat.
In addition, Kohli will also become the fastest batsman to reach 10,000 ODI runs in terms of innings. He has played 204 innings so far, and this record is currently held by Sachin Tendulkar, who reached the 10,000 run-mark in 259 innings.
Former captain M.S. Dhoni is also on the verge of reaching 10,000 ODI runs for India. Although, he already has reached the 10,000 ODI run milestone, he has scored 174 runs for Asia XI and as such, needs 51 runs to complete 10,000 runs in ODIs for India.
Another in-form batsman Rohit Sharma will be looking to shatter Tendulkar’s record. Sharma put on a blistering performance in the first ODI, where he hit 15 fours and 8 sixes. Sharma now has 194 sixes to his name in ODIs and he could equal or perhaps surpass Tendulkar’s record of 195 sixes.
Elton Gomes is a staff writer at Qrius