Formidable India take on West Indies in 1st ODI: Preview
What's the story
The Indian cricket team is gearing up for the first ODI against West Indies on Sunday, September 27. The match will be played at Thiruvananthapuram. This series is a part of India's preparations for the upcoming ICC Men's Cricket World Cup. Owing to the ongoing Asian Games, the hosts are without several key players. However, they are still favorites. Here is the match preview.
Conditions
Pitch report and other details
The Greenfield International Stadium has hosted only two matches since its inception in 2018.
The first was a low-scoring affair where India beat West Indies by nine wickets.
A fresh pitch could prompt the toss-winning captain to bat first, as dew won't be an issue.
This could give spinners some turn and bounce once the ball gets old.
The match will be broadcasted live on Star Sports Network and streamed online on JioStar app/website (2:00pm IST).
Player assessment
India's squad for the 3-match ODI series
The three-match ODI series against West Indies will see a mix of young and experienced players.
Young talents like Yashasvi Jaiswal will be tested along with veterans Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
The team management is contemplating whether to pair Jaiswal with Rohit from the first match or continue with the current combination of Rohit and Shubman Gill at the top order.
Star players
Rohit aims to continue his good form; Kohli closing in
Rohit, who recently scored a century against England, will be under pressure to continue his good form.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli is just 51 runs away from becoming the second batter in history to score 15,000 ODI runs after Sachin Tendulkar.
Both players showed their readiness during a recent net session where they batted fluently for about 20 minutes.
Team strategy
Gurnoor Brar, Auqib Nabi among other youngsters to be tested
The Indian team is also looking at pacers like Gurnoor Brar and Auqib Nabi, who have been impressive recently. However, they still need more match experience.
The recent injury of all-rounder Hardik Pandya has increased the importance of Nitish Kumar Reddy finding his rhythm in white-ball cricket.
Despite his batting being well-rounded, Reddy's bowling still needs improvement.
Opponent's struggle
West Indies's challenges ahead of this ODI series
The West Indies team is hoping to bounce back from two consecutive home ODI series losses to New Zealand and Sri Lanka.
They are also dealing with a recent 25% pay cut imposed by Cricket West Indies for "financial stability."
How they overcome these on-field and off-field challenges will determine the competitiveness of this series against India.
Skipper Shai Hope and Alzarri Joseph will be instrumental to their success.
H2H
Overall head-to-head record between India and West Indies
As per Cricinfo, the two teams have been involved in 142 ODI matches so far.
Team India has won 72 of these games while the Men in Maroon have prevailed 64 times (2 tied matches).
Since the start of 2013, the Men in Blue have won 26 of the 34 concluded ODIs against West Indies.
West Indies's last ODI series win in India dates way back to 2002.
XIs
Probable XIs of India and West Indies
West Indies (Probable XI): John Campbell, Justin Greaves, Shai Hope (c & wk), Keacy Carty, Sherfane Rutherford, Gudakesh Motie, Matthew Forde, Alzarri Joseph, Jayden Seales, Vitel Lawes.
India (Probable XI): Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (c), Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Gurnoor Brar/Auqib Nabi, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.
Performers
Here are the key performers
Across 41 ODI innings against them, Kohli has scored a whopping 2,261 runs at an average of 66.50.
Across five games in the One-Day Cup 2026, Kuldeep Yadav claimed nine wickets at a fine economy of 4.46.
Hope has been sensational in ODI matches held in India, scoring 741 runs at an average of 74.10.
Gudakesh Motie's four ODI outings against Team India have resulted in eight wickets at a stunning economy rate of 4.20.
Each of Rohit's three tons against West Indies has been converted to 150-plus scores.
Poll
