India vs West Indies: Clinical India set to take on unpredictable Windies

In Andre Russell's absence, India will look to make most out of this situation against West Indies

The tough men in Maroon stand at the bottom of ICC World Cup points table, there is no chance that the Indian players are underestimating the team. This World Cup has been completely unpredictable so far as the matches that everyone expected to be one-sided games turned out to be nail-biting fixtures. Team India are now putting each step with reckoned measures especially after the match against Afghanistan.

The match with Afghanistan was inch closer but India's bowling attack made it happen to an 11-run win. But this kind of last-minute approach is not going to work while playing with West Indies. Virat Kohli-led team on that day faced a pure hard-hit challenge after easy wins against South Africa, Australia and Pakistan. And now it is the time for the Caribbean Men who have displayed with positive spirit in every match so far and now they will be facing India on June 27 at Old Trafford, Manchester.

Looking at the performance of the West Indies team, they have won just one match out of six in the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2019. The Caribbean men have lost four games and one was washed out. The last match that they played was against New Zealand where the team gave a tough fight to the side that is unbeaten in this tournament so far.

West Indies had to chase a target of 292 set by the Black Caps where the hitter Chris Gayle smashed 87 off 84 balls and on the other side Shimron Hetmyer scored 54 off 45 balls. Carlos Brathwaite scored a century in just 82 deliveries that gave an almost winning touch to the game as Windies felt short of just 5 runs, but the game thrilled every cricket fan that day.

India's mixed performance

Rohit Sharma failed to showcase his Hitman game against Afghanistan as he caught out at just 1. Then came in skipper Kohli, who patiently kept on going and scored 67 off 63 balls. After that Vijay Shankar was sent to bat, accompanied by Dhoni but both of them failed to score sufficient runs (29, 28) and wasted a lot of balls. Kedar Jadhav managed to score a half ton and India set the target of 224 which was considered to be really low in a World Cup level game.

After setting off with 224, the bowlers were bucked up to take big wickets with Shami fetching in 4, Bumrah, Chahal, Pandya snatching 2 each. Therefore, analysing team India's performance against Afghanistan, it was not one of their best as the fans expected more, especially for such games. But the pitch was very slow to score runs, so no one to blame for that!

No more Russell roar!

This has definitely come as a piece of good news for the Indian team, the all-rounder Andre Russell has been officially ruled out of the ICC World Cup 2019 due to a knee injury. The news came in on Monday that the West Indies has named Sunil Ambris as the replacement for Russell. The all-rounder was seen in visible discomfort with his knee and the team has called Ambris to join the squad ahead of the clash against India at Old Trafford.

Andre Russell as we all know came in like a storm in the IPL and scored tremendous runs with raining sixes and did deep magic with the ball. In this tournament, Russell has picked 5 wickets so far in four games.

Talking about Sunil Ambris' performance in cricket, he has scored 316 runs in six ODIs at an average of 105.33. His presence will create a sense of solidity in the middle order for the West Indies batting line-up and hopefully save the quick collapses.

Odd men Hope and Cottrell

Though Men in Maroon are on the brink of getting ousted from the World Cup, there are two odd men out who can turn the game whenever they want. Shai Hope is known for his style of batting as he will never capitulate towards the invitation of playing the big shot right after he has already played one. It is difficult to lure this batsman. He has scored 11, 68, 11, 96 and 1 so far in the ongoing tournament.

But he has to face Jasprit Bumrah. The pacer had been better off with the West Indies for two times in three matches that he has played and he will surely look to repeat that scenario in Manchester.

On the other hand, Cottrell is someone who is famous for the way he bowls. His left-arm pace is the kind of attack that is very unidimensional. Therefore, it is going to be a tough task for the Indian batsmen to tackle Cottrell's style of bowling.

Dhoni's form creates worry

Dhoni's is undoubtedly one of the best wicket-keeper in the world who has the speed of a rocket. But lately, he is seen out of form as he is unable to score big runs whenever India needs it. So far in this tournament, Dhoni has scored 34, 27, 28 which is not at all a bad score for a middle-order batsman but the worrying part is that he is wasting a lot of balls.

Also, when it comes to the middle order, India needs a player who can score runs quickly without wasting any balls and add up to the total to put pressure on the opposition. Everyone says that this might be Dhoni's last World Cup as he may be retiring after this one. Indian cricket team's selection committee cannot leave Dhoni as he is the only experienced shoulder in the Indian cricket team, but he needs to perform in order to aid the team in the contingency situations which right now is not happening.

Chahal's warning to Windies

India's spinner Yuzvendra Chahal who is currently in really good form, said during a press conference, "Playing for your country is very different from playing IPL. The pressure to win games is as much on them as it is on us. Look they (West Indies) are desperate to win. They are also trying to get some form back. So, the conditions will be different and so will be the situation."

Chahal was confident enough to make this statement as Afghanistan game was a testament for Indian bowlers that they can deliver really well even when the margins are less, and the total is below par.

The weather conditions are most likely to remain overcast in the morning as the chances of drizzle are just predicted to be 10%. The cloud cover is expected to decrease as the day progresses and the chances of rains will be nullified. Thus, the fans will most probably get to see a full 100 overs game.

To conclude the whole scenario, West Indies started off their World Cup journey by beating Pakistan by seven wickets but after that, they failed every time despite giving tough fights. India, on the other hand, are World Cup favourites and are likely to continue to dominate the opponents with their destructive form.