India vs West Indies, 2nd ODI Preview: West Indies expected to put up a better fight after series-opener debacle

Both KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal are available for this match.

Windies need to find motivation

West Indies had a very short turnaround after wrapping up the five-match T20 series in their home conditions where they beat England 3-2 in a thrilling contest. They were then quickly thrown into the deep end, facing India in India, with just one full practice session before the beginning of the three-match ODI series.

West Indies were either fatigued or not in the right mental space and failed to understand the tempo of ODI cricket to begin with.

More application required

Their batsmen were looking to go a bit too hard and were playing high risk shots. Jason Holder and Fabian Allen showed that the pitch at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad did not have that many demons, apart from some grip and turn and batsmen could score on the surface if they were prepared to spend some time out in the middle which the West Indian batters simply did not do.

Kieron Pollard getting bowled to leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, trying to lift him over long off, on the first delivery he faced is a good example of that.

 What about Kemar Roach?

Both teams will be looking to make a couple of changes to their playing XI for the second ODI. West Indies were certainly a bowler shorrt in the opening ODI.

Although it is true that it was the batters who lost them the match, even if they had managed to score in excess of 250 with a bowling line up comprising Kemar Roach, Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Akeal Hosein and Fabian Allen, and only Kieron Pollard as the backup, it is difficult to see how they could have defended it.

It will be interesting to see whether or not West Indies give Kemar Roach another opportunity. The veteran bowler looked out of sorts in the first ODI but knowing Kieron Pollard, he might get a slightly long rope given the experience that he possesses.

Windies need another all-rounder

The team needs to include one more all rounder in the XI to balance things out. Either Darren Bravo or Shamrah Brooks will have to miss out to fit in Romario Shepherd or Odean Smith at number 7, with Jason Holder, who scored an impressive half century in the last match, moving one notch up to number 6 and Kieron Pollard batting at number 5.

There is no other option for the West Indian batters but to take a lot more responsibility.

Fabian Allen looked ineffective with the ball and there is a case for leg spinner Hayden Walsh bolstering the West Indies bowling line up and providing them with some variety.

Rahul to replace Kishan

For India, KL Rahul is now available after missing out in the first ODI due to his sister's wedding. Mayank Agrawal, who was serving a 3-day quarantine, is also out and sweat it out in the nets.

KL Rahul is likely to replace Ishan Kishan at the top of the order. The rest of the lineup did quite well in the first ODI.

The only change that captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid can think about is to bring in Deepak Chahar in place of Shardul Thakur to give themselves a potent wicket-taking option in the powerplay.

Predicted playing XIs

India - Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Deepak Chahar/Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna

West Indies - Brandon King, Shai Hope (wk), Darren Bravo/Shamarh Brooks, Nicholas Pooran, Kieron Pollard (c), Jason Holder, Romario Shepherd/Odean Smith, Hayden Walsh, Alzarri Joseph, Akeal Hosein, Kemar Roach 

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