Stand in skipper Virender Sehwag set to play his first ODI after World Cup

India

As MS Dhoni has been rested in the prospect of upcoming tour for Australia, Virender Sehwag will lead the India and he will be seen in action in this format for the first time since the World Cup, held in subcontinent earlier this year.

The 33-year-old flamboyant opener missed the ODI series in England due to hearing problem. He returned to national team in the recently concluded Test series and roasted the opposition with his superlative form. Sehwag has led India in seven matches so for, wining four of them.

Expectedly Sehwag will open the innings alongside his Delhi mate Gautam Gambhir, who is also in outstanding form.

Young-guns Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will consolidate the Indian middle-order. India has had an advantage that their batting prowess to tail-enders, the recent example was Ravichandran Aswhin’s sparkling ton in the first innings of third Test at Mumbai, which he scored while batting at number eight.

Manoj Tiwary and Ajinkya Rahane, who both scored centuries in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season, are the part of squad but will stay at sidelines until India grab definitive lead in series.

Dhoni’s absence means Parthiv Patel, will stay behind the stumps.

In bowling department, India suffered a setback on the eve of series-opener in form of pacer spearhead Praveen Kumar’s injury. Vinay Kumar will now lead the pace attack alongside Umesh Yadev and Varon Aaron.

Off-spinner Rahul Sharma is expected to make his one-day debut and will share the spin department along with leg-spinner Aswhin.

West Indies

For West Indies, the last ball thrilling draw at Mumbai has boosted their morale level and are hopeful to reply with equal force.

But the things would be not quite simple for them, their last one-day international, in Bangladesh, contains horrible memories during which they seen the vastest collapse and capitulated to just 61 runs despite winning preceding two games to series.

The comeback of in-form opening batsmen Lendl Simmons, who missed the final one-dayer against Bangladesh after sustaining shoulder injury, has bolstered the side.

The 24-year-old southpaw has notched up a ton and seven half-centuries in the ongoing y ear.

Likewise middle-order batsman Darren Bravo, whose batting style is similar to the great Brian Lara, is also at the climax of his form.

He scored two back-to-back hundreds during the Test series India before registering his Test best 195 against Bangladesh.

Like their rivals, West Indian middle-order is studded with some destructive forces.

All-rounders Andre Russell, skipper Darren Sammy and Kieron Pollard all can not only pushdown the asking rate but can also give late boosts to the score.

Pace spearhead Ravi Rampaul and Kemar Roach will kick-off the bowling attack while Anthony Martin and uncapped Sunil Narine will share the spin department.

India squad:

Virender Sehwag (Captain), Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Parthiv Patel (wk), Ajinkye Rahane, Manoj Tiwary, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Varun Aaron, Umesh Yadav, Rahul Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar

West Indies Squad:

Darren Sammy (Captain), Adrian Barath, Darren Bravo, Danza Hyatt, Anthony Martin, Jason Mohammed, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Kieran Powell, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons

India VS West Indies 1st ODI Ball-by-Ball updates