Suryakumar to spearhead middle-order with 28-yr-old star: A look at India’s predicted playing XI for 1st ODI vs WI

Attention will begin to turn to the 50-over format in the West Indies following the conclusion of the Test series in Trinidad earlier this week.

West Indies will prepare to host India at Bridgetown in Barbados in the first of 3 ODI matches. While the hosts heartbreakingly failed to qualify for this year’s ODI World Cup, India’s preparations for the tournament they will host begin here.

It is a key series as India look to put plans in place ahead of the marquee tournament in October. It is a depleted outfit, with significant players like Japsrit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, and Rishabh Pant all missing through injuries. This means it will be a largely new-look Indian lineup, especially in the middle order, and the players will need to start producing if they want to nail down places for the Asia Cup.

Rohit Sharma will captain the team and open alongside Shubman Gill, whose sensational young career has already seen him score a double-century. This is likely to be the opening duo heading into the World Cup, with Ishan Kishan as the backup.

Number three will unsurprisingly be occupied by Virat Kohli in what remains his best format, but he will be looking to get back into the groove in this format of the game, where his is certainly India’s most significant player. His experience will be the key in a young team.

The middle order from 4 to 6 is something of a concern. While Hardik Pandya is a can’t-drop player, especially if he is available to bowl some overs of pace, Suryakumar Yadav and Sanju Samson will be fighting for their spot in the middle order. While the fitness of Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul has kept the duo out of this tour, their fantastic numbers at 4 and 5 respectively will make them favourites to hold down the position at the World Cup.

In this series, however, this middle order has plenty of flexibility, with all three batters capable of holding down the innings if in early, or scoring briskly when given a platform by the top order. Samson in particular will want to provide consistency, with Ishan Kishan hungry for a role in the middle order himself.

India will carry a long batting order into the ODI series, with Ravindra Jadeja at 7 and Shardul Thakur at 8. Axar had a fantastic tour in the Caribbean last year, but might lose out to Shardul with a third proper seamer required in Barbados. Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav will battle for the frontline spinner role, but the righty might get the call ahead of Kuldeep, despite the latter’s improved defensive bowling in the recent IPL.

Pace bowling will be something of a concern for India, who head into this series with neither Bumrah or Mohammed Shami. Similar to the Test series, Mohammed Siraj will lead an inexperienced pace attack, but his white-ball bowling will give Rohit Sharma confidence. The second spot will be a battle between Jaydev Unadkat, Mukesh Kumar, and the young and fiery Umran Malik. This is the kind of series India will want Umran to start making an impact in, which should see him earn a start at the Kensington Oval.

India vs West Indies 1st ODI predicted XI:

Openers: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill.

Middle-order: Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya.

All-rounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur.

Bowlers: Yuzvendra Chahal, Umran Malik, Mohammed Siraj.