India will take on West Indies in the fifth and final match of the ongoing One Day International (ODI) series. India were leading 2-0 after first three matches (one game washed out) but West Indies fought hard in the fourth match and registered their first victory of the series.
On a two-paced batting wicket in Antigua, West Indies bowlers, led by their captain Jason Holder who took 5 wickets in the match, restricted India and 178 and won the match by 11 runs.
In the first innings, Indian bowlers also bowled well and restricted West Indies to just 189 runs, but even that modest total turned out to be too good for Indian batsmen. India’s ace finisher MS Dhoni was criticised for his slow knock by fans and pundits after he wasn’t able to finish the game for India. Dhoni batted for 114 balls and scored 54 runs at a strike rate of 47.36. In his innings, Dhoni smashed only one boundary and struggled to rotate the strike.
Now, all eyes are on the fifth ODI as the surprise win has boosted the confidence of the host nation and they will be motivated to take the field and do something special for the home crowd. However, India would also want to put the defeat behind and give a better performance to seal the series 3-1.
If we compare, man to man, India are a much stronger side and defeating them in a must-win game won’t be easy for the home side. Indian batsmen, apart from the last match, have been in good form and they would surely want to send a strong message across by giving a dominating performance.
In the fourth ODI, India rested star batsman Yuvraj Singh and gave Dinesh Karthik an opportunity to show his talent. But, Karthik could not do much as he managed to score just 2 runs off 19 balls before given a simple catch to S Hope off Alzarri Joseph’s bowling.
However, for the final ODI of the series, it is almost certain that Yuvraj Singh will return to the playing XI and replace Dinesh Karthik. India’s ace fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar will also return to playing XI and he will replace Mohammed Shami.
Indian cricket fans want to see Rishabh Pant in action but it is highly unlikely that Virat Kohli will make such a big change in the decider.
Here is India’s predicted playing XI for the fourth ODI:
Shikhar Dhawan
Ajinkya Rahane
Virat Kohli (c)
Yuvraj Singh
MS Dhoni (wk)
Kedar Jadhav
Hardik Pandya
Ravindra Jadeja
Kuldeep Yadav
Umesh Yadav
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
