Rohit Sharma led India register ODI Series victory against a Depleted West Indies

India came out victorious against all odds as they thrashed West Indies in the 3rd ODI match by 96 runs. India now have started a new era under Rohit Sharma & Rahul Dravid in a grand fashion. India by winning the ODI Series have declined West Indies a chance as for them qualification doesn’t look promising. West Indies are placed at 8th position out of 13 with 50 points in 15 matches. Top 7 teams & India will directly qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, whereas the remaining 5 teams will play World Cup Qualifiers.

India had opted for bat first. India posted a decent yet challenging target of 266 runs. In response to a moderate target West Indies lost the plot as they not only managed to score 47 runs but lost 3 wickets. Once again the batters of West Indies were off color. Not a single batter raised his score beyond 40 runs. There were some contributions as usual from the lower order in the form of mercurial Odean Smith. His whirlwind knock of 36 runs in 18 balls which gave the fans something to cheer for. West Indies got bundled out inside 40 overs for 169 runs. From India the pick of the bowlers was the duo of the Mohammed Siraj & Prasidh Krishna who took 3 wickets each. Finally India handed a chance to the left arm chinaman Kuldeep Yadav who got 2 wickets under his belt. The crafty spinner was ignored for the first two ODI’s, he still showed that he has the zeal & zest to excel on the big stage.

Choosing to bat first India had a dreadful start as they lost 3 wickets in power-play overs. The batters dismissed were India’s top 3: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan & Virat Kohli. India were reduced at 42 for 3 & it looked like the West Indies bowlers would rip off India’s batting line up. Shreyas Iyer & Rishabh Pant tried to put the innings back on track as the duo were involved in 110 runs partnership. Shreyas was given an opportunity & he made the most of it as scoring runs where the senior batters fail is invaluable. He managed to amass 80 runs in 111 balls & avoided a collapse for the men in blue. Rishabh Pant as usual was playing his natural game of attacking; he scored a quick-fire half-century of 56 runs in 54 balls. At the back end of the innings Washington Sundar & Deepak Chahar scored runs quickly as the duo were involved in 53 runs partnership. Deepak Chahar scored a run a ball knock of 38 balls. Washington Sundar the emerging all-rounder scored 33 runs in 34 balls. India would be grateful as the bulk of the scoring was done by the inexperienced batters.

West Indies need to go back to the drawing board as their batters have failed significantly. The top order batters from 1 to 6 have been ineffective as their responsibility of the batters is to stick to the crease & score which was seen by no means. West Indies need to rejig as every-time giving reasons isn’t a feasible option. India on the other hand would be thrilled as this was the first time the leadership of Rohit & Dravid was seen as they did a commendable job as winning was not easy as West Indies pace line up tightened the screws quite well. All in all India still has a long rally ahead where the main motive should be gelling the team ahead for the marquee Event ICC Cricket World Cup 2023