India vs West Indies 2018: Combined ODI playing XI

The Indian team were the clear favourites to win the ODI series owing to their brilliant performances in ODIs since 2015. India hadn't lost a bilateral ODI series at home since their loss against South Africa in 2015.

The first match in Guwahati saw India chase down 322 in just 42.1 overs with the help of Rohit Sharma's and Virat Kohli's brilliant centuries. Shimron Hetmyer also scored a century in that match, but it went in vain.

The second match in Visakhapatnam ended in a tie. In the third match, India failed to chase 289 as they were bundled out for just 240.

India posted a mammoth 377 on the board in the 4th ODI and the Windies failed to chase it down. In the deciding match in Thiruvananthapuram, West Indies got bowled out for a meager 104 runs. India chased down the total with ease and won the series 3-1.

There were some brilliant performances from both the sides as Rohit Sharma scored two 150s and Virat Kohli scored three consecutive centuries this series (4 consecutive in ODIs). Both Hetmyer and Shai Hope scored a century and a half-century century each. Jason Holder and Kieran Powell also scored a half-century each.

Now, let's have a look at the combined playing XI from the ODI series, comprised of the best players across the two teams:

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Openers: Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan

Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan.

The Rohit-Dhawan duo has been in prolific form over the last few years, forming a brilliant top order for India along with Kohli. These two batsmen have a partnership of close to 4,000 runs together, which is the fourth best for an opening pair.

Rohit was been amazing in this series, scoring one half-century and two 150s (152 and 162), which is a record. No other batsman has ever scored two 150s in an ODI series.

Dhawan, on the other hand, did not have a great series but always looked good playing his natural game.

The West Indian openers had a bad outing in India as they never looked comfortable playing against Indian bowlers. Kieren Powell scored 94 runs in five matches and Chandrapaul Hemraj scored 70 in his four innings.

Dhawan scored more runs than Powell and Hemraj, so he is on this list ahead of them. The Indian left-hander scored 112 in five innings whereas Rohit scored 388 runs at an average of 129.33.

#3 Virat Kohli (c)

Virat Kohli scored three consecutive centuries in this ODI series.

There is no batsman in the world currently who can replace this man. Kohli hit three consecutive centuries this series (four overall) to batter the West Indies bowling into submission.

His scores were 140, 157, 107, 16 and 33*, for a total of 453 runs at an average of 151. He was also the highest run-getter in the series, which naturally lets him occupy the No. 3 slot in the combined playing XI.

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#4 Ambati Rayudu

Rayudu's brilliant performance will help him seal the No. 4 slot at least for now

India were in search of a quality No. 4 batsmen and they might have found one in Ambati Rayudu. Rayudu performed exceptionally well to score a century and a half-century in this series.

He also stitched together a vital 200-run partnership along with Rohit Sharma to take India's total to 377 in the 4th ODI. He got starts in the 2nd and the 3rd matches but failed to convert them into big innings.

#5 Shimron Hetmyer

Hetmyer in action against India

Hetmyer has been the find of this series, scoring 259 runs at an average of 51.80 with a century and a half-century.

He scored a century in the first ODI where he played Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav without any pressure. He scored a brisk 106 runs in 78 balls.

Hetmyer showed his hitting abilities again in the second ODI, smacking 94 runs off 64 balls with 7 sixes. He got a start in the third ODI but failed to make it count.

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#6 Shai Hope (wk)

Shai hope scored 250 runs in the series

Another find of the season was Shai Hope. He scored 250 runs at an average of 62.50 with a century and a half-century.

Hope scored 123 runs in the second ODI and hit a last-ball four which helped his side tie the match. He also scored a sparkling 95 in the third game and helped the Windies to a match-winning total.

Hope bagged two ducks in a row in the 4th and 5th ODIs though, which halted his brilliant run of form.

#7 Jason Holder

Jason Holder performed with both bat and ball in the series

Jason Holder is one player who has consistently performed well for the Windies side. He came into the series on the back of a good performance in the 2nd Test against India, and that helped his confidence a great deal.

Holder scored 161 runs in 5 innings and also picked up two wickets. Though the stats seem to be a tad underwhelming, his presence on the field and his captaincy made a huge difference.

He bowled well with the new ball, making it swing, but was not able to pick up wickets regularly.

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#8 Ravindra Jadeja

Jadeja picked up 4 wickets in the 5th ODI

Ravindra Jadeja was not a regular in the ODI side until his performances in Asia Cup earned him a place against West Indies. He is more of a bowling all-rounder and he reinforced that as he picked up 7 wickets in 4 matches at an average of 26.86.

Jadeja, who comes in at No. 7, did not get to bat much as the bulk of the runs were scored by the top 4.

#9 Ashley Nurse

Ashley Nurse picked up Dhawan's wicket three times this series

Ashley Nurse is known for his bowling but not many people know about his batting abilities. In the 3rd ODI, Nurse scored 40 runs off 22 balls to take West Indies to a total of 283.

Nurse also picked up five wickets in four matches. He also took the wicket of Shikhar Dhawan three times in four innings.

Nurse is the only West Indies bowler in this list.

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#10 Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav against the West Indies

In the last couple of years, Kuldeep Yadav has made a name for himself by picking up wickets regularly. Batsmen particularly struggle against his googlies and flippers.

Kuldeep picked up 9 wickets in 4 matches this series at an average of 19.89. He bagged three wickets in the 4th ODI whichl helped India to restrict West Indies to a total of 153.

#11 Khaleel Ahmed

Kaleel Ahmed was brilliant in the series

India haven't had a promising left-hand fast-bowler since Zaheer Khan. Jaydev Unadkat and RP Singh were in the reckoning but never quite lived up to the expectations.

Khaleel Ahmed came into the Indian side following his good performance at the U19 level and in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Ever since he first burst on to the scene, Khaleel has impressed everyone with his bowling; he has a good slower ball, he can swing the ball either way and he also has a good bouncer.

He made his ODI debut against Hong Kong in the Asia Cup and had a good tournament in the UAE.

In the series against West Indies, Khaleel took three and two wickets in the 4th and 5th ODIs respectively. In the 4th match, Khaleel snapped up the crucial wickets of Hetmyer and Samuels while giving away only 13 runs in his spell of five overs.