2 mistakes and 1 masterstroke by India in the 1st ODI vs West Indies

Team India got the home stretch of their World Cup preparations underway in the Caribbean, beating the West Indies by five wickets in the first ODI of the three-match series on Thursday, July 27.

The home side, who failed to secure World Cup qualification after some insipid performances in Zimbabwe last month, barely put up a fight. Shai Hope was the only batter to breach the 25-run mark as the Windies were bowled out for 114.

Rohit Sharma and Co. lost five wickets in the chase, with only Ishan Kishan making an impression. They scaled down the total in the 23rd over to make an unconvincing winning start to the series.

Here are two mistakes and one masterstroke made by Team India in the first ODI against West Indies.

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#3 Mistake - India chose to bowl first

Mukesh Kumar made his ODI debut in Barbados

Team India were always going to outmatch West Indies in the first ODI. Not only were the home side in a terrible run of form across formats, but they were also going to be without the likes of Nicholas Pooran and Jason Holder.

Despite knowing that, though, Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first. The Indian skipper wanted his batters to get some game time, as clearly evidenced by the decisions made during the chase, but decided to insert the Windies.

It was definitely a strange decision. India bowled West Indies out for just 114 in 23 overs, and none of the Men in Blue's batters played more than 50 balls. In fact, only Ishan Kishan played more than 25.

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#2 Masterstroke - Rohit Sharma and Co. managed to achieve their objective of giving game time

Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya earned promotions in the batting order

Irrespective of the small total, India managed to make some bold decisions, some of which can't really be faulted in the way the decision made at the toss can.

Suryakumar Yadav was sent in at No. 3 and given an excellent chance to find some form in ODI cricket. Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja, who usually bat lower, followed him in the lineup. Although the former two couldn't make an impact with the bat, they were confronted with challenging conditions in the middle.

Rohit and Virat Kohli, who are guaranteed to be part of India's top three by the time the World Cup rolls around, were demoted. While the skipper came in at No. 7, Kohli didn't bat.

Not all of India's game-time influenced decisions were smart, though...

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#1 Mistake - India opened with Ishan Kishan and didn't pick Sanju Samson

Ishan Kishan recently made his Test debut and notched up a half-century

All signs suggest that Shubman Gill is going to be Rohit's opening partner at the World Cup. Given such a scenario, India will need to ensure that their wicket-keeper plays in the middle order.

Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson are those in contention for the role, with Rishabh Pant a long way from international cricket and KL Rahul recovering from a troublesome thigh injury. The Men in Blue went with the former in the first ODI against the Windies.

Samson averages well above 60 over the course of his short ODI career and has proven himself to be comfortable against both swing and spin. Kishan, meanwhile, has been inconsistent owing to his obvious technical shortcomings. Irrespective of that, India fielded Kishan.

Not only did they play the young southpaw, but they also opened with him. This negated one of the biggest reasons favoring him ahead of Samson - the fact that he's a left-hander who can add a different dimension to the middle order.

Kishan did face a decent amount of spin over the course of his stay at the crease. However, the Windies bowled pace throughout the opening powerplay, when the opener got his eye in. If he's part of India's full-strength squad, he won't be thrust into such scenarios.

Kishan scoring runs - that too in the manner he did - was a welcome sign. But should he be playing ahead of Samson and opening the batting?