3 reasons why India's decision to shift batting order in 1st West Indies ODI didn't make sense

India dominated West Indies in the first ODI of the three-match series, thumping the hosts by five wickets in Bridgetown, Barbados. The entire match lasted just 45.5 overs.

The foundation for this triumph was laid by the exceptional left-arm spin partnership of Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja. They orchestrated a collapse of the West Indies batting lineup, claiming seven wickets for a mere 26 runs in a span of 44 balls. The home team, initially positioned at 88 for 3, imploded and were eventually bundled out for 114 runs.

India adopted a rather strange tactic while chasing as they promoted their white-ball specialists up the order, lost five wickets in the chase before captain Rohit Sharma, walked out at number seven and hit the winning runs.

Here we take a look at three reasons why India's decision to shift the batting order in first West Indies ODI didn't make sense:

#3 Opening combination is settled

Ishan Kishan opened the innings

Ishan Kishan was initially listed to bat at number four but he walked out to open the innings along with Shubman Gill. Although the left-hander scored a brisk 50, it did not serve any real purpose. Kishan has found success as an opening batter, but India have a settled opening pair in Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul.

If India do need answers, it is in their middle order and this is where Kishan should have been tested. With this innings, there were no questions answered since Kishan is a proven performer at the top of the order.

---

#2 What is the role of Suryakumar Yadav?

Suryakumar failed at number 3

Suryakumar Yadav walked out at number three ahead of Virat Kohli since the team management wanted him to score some runs and gain confidence. He started fairly decently but again squandered a valuable opportunity to cement his position in India's World Cup squad.

He played a couple of delightful strokes but then was dismissed trying to sweep the left-arm spinner for the fourth consecutive delivery. Another question left unanswered – Suryakumar, with his high-risk option, can be a good finisher for the side in the back half of the innings.

However, his performance at number three only gave false hope. He might not get another chance to bat up the order during the series and this could be a chance gone for the right-hander.

---

#1 India should have batted first

Rohit won the toss and bowled first

Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first. If the management wanted the batters to get valuable match practice, he could have batted first and all the batters would have played in their designated position.

Surykumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, and even Shardul Thakur walked out to bat ahead of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma and none of them impressed. If India do want their World Cup preparations to be top-notch, they should have batted first and given themselves all the opportunities to collect runs.

Their batting will now be in focus for the rest of the series after the experiment to tamper their batting order did not quite yield the desired results.