The West Indian team led by Kieron Pollard handed over the Indians a rather unexpected but a timely defeat in the first ODI of the series. Virat Kohli’s men would now have to ensure that they manage to win the next two games in a row in order to secure a series victory. This match will be played in Vishakhapatnam and hence the nature of the track wouldn’t be much different from whatever we have seen earlier in this limited-overs leg.
Kohli has a lot to tackle if he wants to win the 2nd ODI.Image: BCCI
Without
further ado, here we go into a detailed preview of what to expect in the
crucial match between these two sides.
Three Key Players for India:
1: KL Rahul:
With Shikhar
Dhawan’s injury, KL Rahul has received an excellent opportunity to further
prove his mettle and cement his spot as the primary opener in the white ball
game along with Rohit Sharma. He has already done so in T20Is and though he did
have a pretty good World Cup campaign, one would surely expect more from the
man in the 50-overs game.
Rahul toiled
hard in the domestic circuit and had successful campaigns in the Vijay Hazare
Trophy and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He is someone who can extract advantage
of the field restrictions early on and is naturally dominant against the
spinners. In fact, there is no factor that suggests that he shouldn’t make it
big in the ODIs. Just the sheer mental ability to stick around the crease for
long needs to be triggered and hence this game is important for the 27-year-old.
2: Shivam Dube:
Dube needs to step up and deliver in today's game. Image: BCCI
In Hardik
Pandya’s absence, the Indian team has a vital cog left unfilled in the
lower-middle order and Shivam Dube is being entrusted to carry out that role
for the time being. Dube is undoubtedly a brilliant talent with the willow, but
his abilities with the ball are still very limited and hence it needs to be
taken care of by not putting him on the deep end straightaway.
Also, Dube
has looked rather reluctant when asked to go for the big shots as soon as he
arrives on the crease in recent times. On the other hand, he scored a commendable
half-century when promoted to number three in the second T20I. So, that’s an
aspect which needs to be figured out as the position for which he is being
groomed now requires a batsman to go gung-ho right from the word go.
3: Deepak Chahar:
Deepak
Chahar’s rise in recent times has been well-documented and it needs to be seen
how he makes the transition from the shortest format of the game to the ODIs.
He has the knack of taking a wicket very early on in the game and that helps to
break the back of the opposition’s batting order in more ways than one.
However, to
keep on bowling with the same intensity, consistency, and rhythm for 10 overs
requires some more time for adaptation and hence it is necessary to see how he
makes the transition here. Moreover, he can use the long handle to an excellent
effect when asked for and hence provides a valuable depth to the batting order
in case they are looking for a few extra runs or a batsman to just hold on to
the crease in a tense chasing situation.
Factors that will decide the game for India:
1: The fifth bowler conundrum:
The Indian
team management needs to learn from its mistake from the ODI series against
Australia in March when they asked Vijay Shankar and Kedar Jadhav to
collectively bowl ten overs and the duo was unable to provide the required
results. They repeated the same mistake in the last game as Dube along with
Jadhav were together tasked for the fifth bowler’s quota but they went for 79
runs from 8.5 overs with no scalps to their name.
In an
absolutely unnecessary move, the management is still seemingly unprepared to
trust Ravindra Jadeja with the bat for the number seven role despite his
incredible heroics in the World Cup semifinals and the drastic improvements
that he has made in recent times with the bat. Bringing in Yuzvendra Chahal for
Jadhav would mean more strength to the bowling unit, would allow Jadeja to play
at number seven and possibly deliver 10 overs too. Moreover, it can help Dube bat
at a higher position and not overburden him for his weaker skill so early in
his career.
2: How they tackle Shimron Hetmyer?
Hetmyer was excellent in the first ODI. Image: Getty
Shimron
Hetmyer’s abilities are unhidden in front of the people but consistency was a
factor that deserted him majorly before and he seems to have gotten the answer
for it through a seemingly successful tour to India so far. Batting at number
three, he has shown the single-minded determination and talent to take away
the game from the opposition whilst playing an entertaining brand of cricket
that is synonymous with the players from the Caribbean.
The Indian
bowlers were unable to find an answer for him in the last match and hence
Chahal’s inclusion in the XI could help the wrist-bowling duo of Kuldeep and
Yuzvendra to stifle Hetmyer in the middle overs and probably dismiss him
through a combination of various skills on display from both ends.
Probable Indian Playing XI:
Rohit
Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shivam
Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed
Shami
Venue and Timings:
Date: 18th
December 2019
Time: 1:30
PM IST
Venue:
ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium
The match
will be broadcast across Star’s multiple channels and can also be streamed live
on Hotstar.