3 player battles to watch out for in IND vs WI 1st ODI

Team India will begin the final stretch of their World Cup preparation with a three-match ODI series against the West Indies (WI) with the first game to be played at Bridgetown, Barbados on Thursday, July 27.

The visitors won the Test series 1-0 and the focus now shifts to the one-day format where both teams have had contrasting fortunes. While the Men in Blue will look to finally end their 10-year ICC trophy drought by preparing well for the World Cup, WI have failed to qualify for the event for the first time ever in their history.

The hosts have arguably hit rock bottom, but they have an opportunity to play for pride and once again get their cricket back to the glory days. India, on the other hand, will want their big names to find form and also keep backups ready with the injury woes that they have in their camp.

On that note, let's take a look at the three interesting match-ups that the 1st ODI could provide:

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#3 Shimron Hetmyer vs Kuldeep Yadav

Explosive left-hander Shimron Hetmyer seems to have sorted out his differences with the WI board as he is back in the ODI side for the first time since 2021. He likes to take on the spinners and could provide experience to the middle order in the absence of the likes of Nicholas Pooran and Jason Holder.

Left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav becomes an interesting match-up for Hetmyer as he has scored 82 runs off 72 balls in ODIs against the former. However, Kuldeep has also dismissed Hetmyer twice, which makes it a pretty even match-up going into the first game.

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#2 Virat Kohli vs Yannic Cariah

Wrist-spinner Yannic Cariah has played just eight ODIs so far, but could still be a crucial bowler for the hosts against star batter Virat Kohli. Ever since the year 2020, Kohli's weakness against leg spin is well-documented and teams seemed to have started taking notice.

During the ODIs in this period, while Kohli has scored 242 runs in 239 balls in 13 innings against leg spin but he has also been dismissed five times. If Cariah can get his length right straightaway, he could cause Kohli some problems.

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#1 Rohit Sharma vs Alzarri Joseph

Indian captain Rohit Sharma, over the past 12 months, has been guilty of throwing away good starts in ODIs. The Men in Blue will need him to find that mojo of the 2019 World Cup if they want to finally win the showpiece event again.

Standing in his way this series could be young WI speedster Alzarri Joseph, who has some impressive numbers in ODIs against Rohit. The opener has scored 51 runs off 61 deliveries from Joseph but has also been dismissed thrice.

If the speedster gets some movement early on or if Rohit gets going, this could be another fascinating match-up.