Five strategical tweaks India should make in the 2nd ODI against the Windies

India defeated the Windies convincingly in the 1st ODI at the Assam Cricket Association Barsapara Stadium. They have only 17 games before the 2019 One-Day International Cricket World Cup. Though the Men In Blue are playing exceptional cricket in the past two years, they are not perfect in all the departments. Dhoni's batting, the all-rounder conundrum, the middle-order instability, have exposed Indian frailties in the grand stage.

Indians have a good chance to try a few combinations in the ongoing bilateral tournament. At the same time, they cannot make wholesome changes which may affect their positive momentum.

The following are the five strategical tweaks India should make in the 2nd ODI against West Indies

#1 Rishabh Pant as Wicketkeeper

If India have plans to take Rishabh Pant as a deputy to Dhoni for the next year World Cup, they should seriously consider giving him some international experience behind the stumps. Though the 21-year-old left-handed batsman has become a rock-star with his explosive batting, he was sub-standard with his wicket-keeping skills.

Pant has conceded 97 byes in only four Tests. As Deep Dasgupta rightly pointed out, "Pant is not a finished product". Without proper keeping practice in ODIs, he may struggle to keep wickets against 30 overs of spin bowling.

India will have nine round-robin games in the World Cup which can take a huge toll on the 37-year old M.S.Dhoni. Pant cannot afford to make many mistakes behind the stumps during Dhoni's absence. Dhoni also may get back his prime batting form if he focuses only on batting for a while. It will be a win-win situation for both Dhoni and Pant.

Considering India cannot do many experiments against Australia, it is high time for Pant to take care of wicket-keeping in the next ODI. It will also help the selectors to understand Pant's progress as a wicket-keeper.

#2 Ambati Rayudu at no. 3

Ambati Rayudu is averaging more than 50 in his 41-game ODI career

Virat Kohli strongly believes that India's middle-order problems can be solved if Ambati Rayudu owns his place at the no. 4 position in the 17 games ahead of the 2018 ODI World Cup. In order to do so, Rayudu needs more time on the pitch. With the phenomenal form of India's top-order trio (Dhawan, Rohit and Kohli), the middle-order hardly get substantial time in the middle.

Kohli can send Ambati Rayudu after the fall of 1st wicket during the 2nd ODI against the Windies. Playing for 30-40 overs will give a chance to the Hyderabad star to score a big hundred. With a batting average of over 50 in ODIs, sending Rayudu up the order is not entirely a gamble.

The Windies bowling average and strike-rate is the worst of all the ODI teams in the 2nd power-play overs. Rayudu can capitalize on that and cement his place in the Indian middle-order.

#3 Kuldeep Yadav in the playing eleven

India struggled in the middle-overs with Kuldeep's absence

The Indian team management's decision to drop the in-form spinner Kuldeep Yadav in the first One-Day against the Windies has backfired badly. The Indians conceded more than 300 runs with all the three fast bowlers failing to impress. Chahal was also left wanting for a spinning partner during most of the middle-overs.

India should not tinker too much with the settled spin-duo as one complements the other. India can bring in Kuldeep Yadav in the place of rookie Khaleel Ahmed as his probability of travelling to England for the World Cup is very slim.

Had Kuldeep been there in the playing 11, India could have restricted Hetmyer's middle-over onslaught. The 23-year-old has done well in all the formats in the past two years. The left-arm wrist spinner was the leading wicket-taker in the recently concluded Asia Cup as he took 10 wickets in the series helping India to clinch the trophy.

He is also a capable lower-order batsman as he had scored hundreds in the first-class games.

#4 Spinners in the 1st Powerplay

Kuldeep or Chahal can be tried in the 1st power-play as they have wicket-taking ability

With the absence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, Indian fast bowlers struggled in the first Powerplay. They conceded more than six runs an over and couldn't scalp more than one wicket. Neither Umesh nor Shami could stem the flow of runs.

India don't have a backup option with pacers if they leak too many runs in the opening overs. They should groom Chahal or Kuldeep to take the mantle of curbing run flows in the 1st Powerplay should the pacers struggle.

Also, players like Powell have the tendency to go big when spinners bowl. This will give an additional opportunity for India not only to barricade the run flow but also take crucial wickets.

Every international team has a hard-hitting opening batsman, say Dickwella (Sri Lanka), Jason Roy (England), Fakhar Zaman (Pakistan), etc. Hence, it is important for India to groom one of their wrist-spinners to handle the new ball.

#5 Bat first if they win the toss

It will be interesting to see how our Indian spinners counter Dew threat when bowl second

The unwritten fact these days is, India can chase any target in the Indian conditions. They have chased 320+ target more than 10 times. The feat is twice more than what the other teams have achieved.

With dew in the winter Indian evenings, it will be a challenge for any team to defend a huge total. India should take the challenge of batting first to see how the players handle the dew situation.

The following are the advantages of batting first.

* India can bat all 50-overs which will give substantial time for the middle and lower-middle order batsmen to bat long.

* The management can see analyze how their bowlers perform under lights/dew conditions.

* India can also develop a habit of scoring more than 350 runs as they lost few games failing to defend scores around 320 in batting friendly conditions.