India vs West Indies 2019, 1st ODI: 3 Talking Points from India's loss

After winning the T20I series 2-1, India were looking to kick-start the 3-match ODI series against West Indies in Chennai with a positive result. Kieron Pollard won the toss on the day and on a very dry track, he decided to bowl first.

West Indies had a fantastic start as the hosts found themselves two down for 25 runs after Sheldon Cottrell picked up both KL Rahul and Virat Kohli. After that, Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer stitched a 50-run partnership before India's vice-captain was dismissed.

After some brilliant work from Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, and Kedar Jadhav; India managed to post a challenging total of 287 for the loss of 8. On a dry track, Virat Kohli would have thought it would be enough but the visitors had different ideas.

Also see - Ranji most runs

Shai Hope and Shemron Hetmyer scored hundreds, on route to their destruction of India's bowling attack. West Indies won the game quite comfortably in the end- by 8 wickets and with 2 overs to go. Here, we are going to take a look at the three talking points from India's loss.

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#3 West Indies batsmen took full advantage of India's 5th bowling option

Virat Kohli and Mohammed Shami

Hardik Pandya has been India's fifth bowling option for quite some time now but because he is out injured, Virat Kohli decided to back Shivam Dube.

It is fair to say that the Mumbai lad had a terrible outing with the ball in his hand. Dube gave away 68 runs from 7.5 overs at an economy rate of 8.7. Credit has to go to the West Indies batsmen as they never let Dube settle and when Kedar Jadhav came on to bowl, he was smashed for 11 runs from the only over he bowled.

India need to find a suitable 5th bowling option for the next ODI. They can easily drop Dube for another specialist spinner or fast bowler. That would really help the team's balance.

#2 Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer give India positives to look at

Great performance from these two!

One very big positive for India on Sunday was the fact that Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer stepped up after West Indies dismissed India's reliable front three for cheap. Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and Rohit Sharma got out for 4, 6, and 36 respectively, which left India in a spot of bother during the middle stages of the first innings.

But the two Delhi Capitals boys stitched a 114-run partnership before Shreyas Iyer was dismissed for a well-played 70 off 88 balls. Pant also did his job as he managed to score 71 runs off just 69 balls. Although both of them would have liked to stay on and get big hundreds, they did their job of steadying the hosts' ship extremely well.

#1 West Indies have talent in abundance

West Indies outclassed India

What a performance it was from the West Indies. On a very dry wicket, where batting wasn't easy, Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer made it look so, so easy. They didn't back down and just played their natural game, which is to take on the opposition's bowling attack.

We all know their six-hitting capabilities but it wasn't about that brute strength, it was proper batting from two top young talents. They rotated strike at every opportunity, punished every bad ball and never let the opposition bowlers settle. If you are Kieron Pollard, that is exactly what you want from your youngsters.

Hope and Hetmyer gave everyone in Chennai and India a glimpse of what this West Indies side is capable of doing on their day. All they have to do is find the consistency which they hopefully will over time.