***Official*** West Indies in India 2014

[Contra]

Aaron and Yadav may be more destructive at their peak...but this is ODI cricket we are talking about. India have the batting firepower (or had rather, as Kohli is shot...) to chase down scores around 300 pretty comfortably. You are now looking for a bowling attack that can ensure you are chasing that level consistently.

With Mohit, Pandey, Vinay Kumar...these guys won't tear apart a side, but won't go for more that 60-65 in their 10 overs. Backed by the spinners, it sets a reasonable score to chase each time.

Yadav and Aaron as they are now are the kind of bowlers you can see bleeding 20 runs in an over, and returning figures like 6 overs for 50 odd. The batsmen will no longer have around 300 to chase each time, they will be chasing <220 when these guys have a good day but possibly >320 when they have a bad one.

Haha are you serious? You honestly believe that? Those bowlers are just as likely to be taken apart badly as any other. The last time Vinay Kumar bowled in an ODI he got taken for 102 runs in 9 overs. Also you must be massively optimistic to hope that Indian bowlers can restrict any meaningful opposition to under 220. I'd be be over the moon if our bowlers can even restrict opposition to 26-270 on a regular basis, much less 220. Against our bowlers other batting line ups should hope for 300 minimum on a decent batting wicket.

Also I agree with Hendrix, Kohli and Dhoni can only do so much, and our batting line up isn't in the same class as the 2011 one was.

 

[cnerd123]

No team will chase 300 consistently against the good bowling attacks on decent pitches. Even with Dhoni and Kohli firing in NZ India failed and got worse as the series went on.

They need to take wickets.

Well not on decent pitches, but it has been a formula that's working in the subcontinent for India in ODIs of late. Win toss, bowl first, chase down the 280-320 range target efficiently.

I agree this won't work in NZ/Aus. Which is why I feel India needs to be playing for ODIs down there instead of these home series. They need to see what bowling combination and team balance will get the job done in those conditions. Jadeja/Yuvraj + Spinner + 3 fast mediums has been working for them over here for the last couple of years but I doubt that it will work down under.

 

[WindieWeathers]

To win like that without Gayle, Narine, Roach and Simmons is really encouraging...here are some ratings.

Smith= Done himself no harm and laid a good foundation with Bravo at the beginging

Dwayne Bravo= Threw it away by being a little too aggressive but won't judge him too much because he's not an opener

Darren Bravo= Though it wasn't a big score he played an important role in a time when the ball was doing a bit. Again like his brother he got carried away..no need to keep trying to hit 6s like that.

Samuels= Well what can i say? outstanding performance by Marlon. I must admit after the t20 world cup i thought his time was up...it did come out that he had problems with his wrist in NZ but he just wasn't looking right at all. But today we saw exactly what he's capable of and in that form he can totally transform our batting line-up in all formats.

Ramdin= Just typical Denesh these days...he's really come of age in the last two years and looks in great form.

Pollard= Stupid shot and his place might be vulnerable with Simmons set to return

Sammy= Bowled well, took good catches and added to the total in the end so i can't complain

Russell= Looks like a transformed bowler does Andre..the rash batting still leaves a lot to be desired though regardless of whether it's at the end or not...gotta be better than that.

Rampaul= Can't complain...bowled well

Taylor= His bowling to Rahane early wasn't the best but he done ok in the end i guess

Benn= Helped to put the pressure on in the middle overs and done well


It's gonna be interesting to see who Simmons comes in for...Polly or Russell would be my guess.

 

[cnerd123]

Haha are you serious? You honestly believe that? Those bowlers are just as likely to be taken apart badly as any other. The last time Vinay Kumar bowled in an ODI he got taken for 102 runs in 9 overs. Also you must be massively optimistic to hope that Indian bowlers can restrict any meaningful opposition to under 220. I'd be be over the moon if our bowlers can even restrict opposition to 26-270 on a regular basis, much less 220. Against our bowlers other batting line ups should hope for 300 minimum on a decent batting wicket.

Also I agree with Hendrix, Kohli and Dhoni can only do so much, and our batting line up isn't in the same class as the 2011 one was.

For what it's worth:

Career ODI Economy Rates:
Bhuvi Kumar: 4.67 after 40 ODIs
Mohit Sharma: 5.18 after 11
Ishant Sharma: 5.72 after 72
Mohammed Shami: 5.74 after 38
Vinay Kumar: 5.94 after 31
Yadav: 6.09 after 32
Aaron: 6.64 after 8

Yadav's not done that badly actually, but I wouldn't use one bad spell from Vinay as evidence that he's 'just as likely' to be taken apart.

He's not suited to NZ/Aus, I'll give you that, but as a whole he is a safer bet than Aaron/Yadav.

 

[YorksLanka]

Shocking shot from Dhawan there...surely there must be a better opening bowler in the West Indies then Rampaul??

 

[hendrix]

Shocking shot from Dhawan there...surely there must be a better opening bowler in the West Indies then Rampaul??

Rampaul is a pretty good limited overs bowler IMO, and especially in Aus and NZ conditions.

 

[YorksLanka]

He looks poor here, Taylor generating pace and swing in comparison..don't get me wrong, I think he is ok but as a first /second change rather than opening the bowling

 

[hendrix]

That's because Jerome Taylor is looking unplayable.

 

[grecian]

That's because Jerome Taylor is looking unplayable.

Yes impressive stuff from him. Hope he can stay fit for awhile could become one of the best in the World.

 

[YorksLanka]

Kohli playing himself back into form with a good half century..raina picking up from where he left off in terms of form...

 

[harsh.ag]

The Windies seem to be proving that the "No such thing as too many all-rounders in LO cricket" theory has some merit.

 

[Arjun]

The current Indian pace attack is the best we've seen in a long time, although I'd prefer Ishwar Pandey in place of Kumar, because as a specialist bowler, Pandey provides more. Not sure Kumar's batting is so significant when they've chosen to stick with Jadeja and Ashwin.

Rayudu is a waste of space. He's played 18 ODIs almost non-stop, but can't get his strike rate above 70. That's in an age where plenty of tracks are flat and the Indian bowlers get taken for plenty. Kedar Jadhav is a far better OD/T20 batsman than him, on present form. Wonder what's stopping BCCI's Top Five from making the swap. If the Top Five don't like Ranji Group C, KJ's team is now promoted to the top tier in Ranji.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Why would anyone think of dropping Kumar? Insane. Doesn't take too many wickets, yeah, but atleast he keeps things dry. It's not as though he never bowls at the death either, so unlike Jadeja, his low economy is a big boost.

Agree about Rayudu, though. Very bad batsman.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Samuels is such an enigma. Stroked everything in sight off the middle of the bat in the first match, can't get it off the square today

 

[ankitj]

Very well poised game. This match situation is tailor made for Sammy.

 

[ankitj]

Alright, this should swing it.

 

[Daemon]

18/5 in the last 5 overs

 

[YorksLanka]

Abysmal collapse from the Windies to gift the game to India..congrats to them on keeping the series alive..

 

[brockley]

Fixed.

 

[cnerd123]

Nice to see Shami get wickets and Kohli get runs.