Image Courtesy: The Week
After the action in the West, the drama shifts to the tip of India where the capital city of Thiruvananthapuram is set to host it’s first ever ODI. Having won convincingly at the Brabourne in the 4th ODI, India attained a 2-1 lead ahead of the final fixture.
After enduring several hiccups in the middle portion of the series, the Men In Blue found their right combination and found their rhythm to trump out the visitors in the 4th ODI. The series decider has a lot at stake with the Windies looking to solve their top order crisis while India aims to continue the momentum having only a handful of One-dayers left before the all-important 2019 World Cup.
Apart from momentum, Indian skipper Virat Kohli will aim to test his bench strength for this final fixture. Kl Rahul, Manish Pandey sit out in the cold as the hosts field with the best possible XI considering the form.
Meanwhile, Windies suffered their first batting failure in the limited overs series with the batting line-up being skittled out by excellent bowling and alert fielding. While it may be easy to categorize the Indians as favorites, one cannot rule out this unpredictable bunch of players in the Windies line-up.
Players to watch out for:
Rohit Sharma: After a shattering ton in the previous fixture, the Hitman will look to prolong his excellent touch as long as possible with possible yet another positive performance.
Shai Hope: The wicket-keeper batsman has arguably been the rock of the Windies batting unit and will look to bounce back after his unfortunate dismissal at Brabourne.
When: November 1, Thursday; 1:30 PM IST
Venue: Greenfields Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
Where to watch: Star Sports Network and Hotstar
Predicted XI
India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah
West Indies: Kieran Powell, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Shai Hope, Marlon Samuels, Rovman Powell, Fabian Allen, Jason Holder, Ashley Nurse, Keemo Paul, Kemar Roach
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