India vs West Indies 2018: Top 4 performers of the ODI series

The recently concluded series between India and West Indies ended to be a lop-sided affair after the Windies side gave a scare to the Men in Blue.

After losing the first match by 8 wickets in Guwahati, the Windies pulled off a tie at Vizag and won the third match at Pune by 40 runs. However, Jason Holder's men failed to repeat their past performances and slumped to heavy defeats in the final two ODIs.

There were a few bright spots for the visitors as S Hetmyer, Shai Hope and Ashley Nurse put up some good individual performances and tried their best to help their side. But, in the end, the team faltered to lose the series 1-3.

For the home side, skipper Virat Kohli and opener Rohit Sharma piled up huge runs while Khaleel Ahmed emerged as the third pacer for the team.

Here are the top 4 performers of the series-

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#1 Most Runs - Virat Kohli (453)

Kohli became the first Indian batsman to hit centuries in 3 consecutive ODIs

Virat Kohli scored 453 runs in the 5 ODI matches at an outstanding average of 151. The Indian skipper scored 3 centuries in the first 3 ODIs with the highest score of 157* which he scored in the 2nd ODI. He scored a brilliant century at Guwahati which helped India scale down Windies' huge total comfortably.

In the second match, he anchored the innings and helped India reach 321 while in the 3rd encounter, his century went in vain as India crumbled to a 40-run defeat. He failed to score big in the 4th ODI and had pretty fewer runs to chase in the 5th ODI.

Kohli smashed 52 fours and 7 sixes in the 5 matches and had a strike rate of 112.96 in the series.

#2 Most Sixes - Rohit Sharma and Shimron Hetmyer (16 each)

The Hitman also reached the second position in the list of Indians with most sixes in ODIs

Rohit Sharma scored big hundreds in the ODI series against Windies and also entertained the spectators by smashing 16 sixes in 5 matches. He hit 8 sixes in the first match where he scored 152* to help India win the match. In the 4th ODI, his 162 (137) included 4 sixes. Even in the 5th ODI, he made sure India wraps up the series quickly by hitting 4 sixes in his quick-fire knock of 63*.

For Windies, Shimron Hetmyer was the biggest positive as the young prodigy scored 259 runs for in 5 matches and even hit 16 sixes in the #BattleOfSixes. Hetmyer smashed 6 balls out of the Baraspara Stadium in the 1st ODI while he whacked 7 deliveries for maximums in the second ODI. He was the highest run scorer for Windies in the series.

#3 Most Wickets - Kuldeep Yadav (9)

The Windies batsmen found it hard to tackle Kuldeep's chinaman bowling

Kuldeep Yadav has quickly established himself as the top spinner of India in the limited overs format with his wrist spin. The left-arm chinaman spinner was on the top of his game once again as he scalped 9 wickets in the 4 matches he played in the series.

He wasn't picked in the first ODI but a good performance in the second ODI made sure he plays all the remaining ODIs. Yadav picked 3 wickets in the Vizag ODI and helped India avoid a defeat at the hands of West Indies.

The KKR spinner also picked 2 wickets in the third ODI before his best performance of the series (3/42) in the 4th game. Though Kuldeep picked a solitary wicket in the 5th match, he emerged as the best bowler among the sides.

#4 Best Bowling Figures in a Match - Ravindra Jadeja (4/34)

Ravindra Jadeja made sure India does not miss Hardik Pandya

Ravindra Jadeja made an emphatic return to the Indian ODI team with a brilliant performance in the Asia Cup. His performances in the Asia Cup helped him secure a place in the playing XI of the first ODI where he picked 2 wickets leaking 66 runs. He went wicketless in the second match and was dropped for the third match before being picked again for the last 2 matches.

The Saurashtra born all-rounder bowled an economical spell of 1/39 at Mumbai and picked 4/34 in the final one-day to seal the series for India. The left-arm spinner dismissed the dangerous Hetmyer, Samuels, Roach and Thomas to skittle out the visitors for 104.

Who do you think was the best performer of the ODI series? Share your views in the comments box below.