After losing 3-0 to Bangladesh at home, West Indies will play Team India in a three-match ODI series on July 22. The series will be held at Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad.
Both teams have played 136 matches against each other, with India winning 67 overall while West Indies has 63 wins.
West Indies struggled in both batting and bowling in the series against Bangladesh. Nicholas Pooran was the highest run scorer with 91 runs in three matches for the side. In terms of bowling, Gudakesh Moti was more successful with six wickets.
Pooran said their loss in the Bangladesh series made his team contemplate and set the objective to show the Indians a better fight.
“For me, I want to see the guys continue to fight with both bat and ball. For this India series, I want us to dig deep and just fight as long as possible, and you never know, things might just happen for us,” Pooran said.
Without Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, and Rishabh Pant in the opposing team, West Indies may be able to stand a chance against Team India. Pooran urged his team to reflect on their loss against Bangladesh.
"As I always tell the guys, no story ever starts well, and it has started so for us in ODI cricket," he said. "But I believe in the guys and believe in the talent that we have here and willingness of the guys to learn. Everyone wants to get better; everyone is asking questions.
“Everyone is asking how to get better and that's something I admire from the guys so far coming from the Bangladesh series. We're just looking forward to some things going our way because the guys have been putting in a lot of work and we're looking forward to this India series to correct some rights and wrongs."
West Indies will also feature Jason Holder, who will return after being rested during the match against Bangladesh.
Confidence in absence of star players
India is currently third on the ICC Men’s ODI rankings, while West Indies is ninth. So far, India has won four out of five recent ODI matches, while West Indies has not won a single game.
After clinching both white-ball series in England, India rested Sharma, Kohli, Pant, Pandya, Shami, and Bumrah. Meanwhile, KL Rahul has been recovering following hernia surgery. This means some of their backup players will get a full series than just a one-off game. Shikhar Dhawan will lead the side for the ODI.
India had an impressive batting in England, with Pant as the leading run-scorer, hitting 125 runs in 2 innings with a century in the decider. Pandya also received the Man of the Series award for his performance. He made 100 runs in 2 innings and scalped six wickets.
In terms of bowling, India was led by Bumrah, who is widely considered one of the best pace bowlers in all three formats of cricket. He secured eight wickets in two matches with a career-best of 6/19 in the first ODI.
Regardless, without Sharma, Kohli, Pant, Pandya, Shami, and Bumrah, Dhawan remained positive that the lineup, which consists of Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Hooda, and Sanju Samson, could perform well and win just like they did in England. Ravindra Daveja has been appointed vice-captain to assist Dhawan.
"I'm a very positive person. For me, positivity is about self-belief and the confidence you take in. I have that since I've been playing for so many years. I'm here because I've done some good things. That is the positivity I want to pass on to the youngsters," Dhawan said.
