India vs West Indies 2019, 2nd ODI: 3 talking points from the Men in Blue's win

India have leveled the ODI series 1-1, after beating the West Indies by a huge 107 runs in Visakhapatnam. Kieron Pollard, the West Indies captain, won the toss and decided to bowl first on a good batting wicket which was expected to get better under lights owing to the due factor.

India, unlike the first ODI, made a terrific start as Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul stitched together a 227-run partnership, which was broken when Rahul got dismissed for a well-played 102 of 104 balls.

After that, Virat Kohli was dismissed on a golden duck, but the Indian vice-captain made sure that India's momentum doesn't die down as he was dismissed for a mammoth 159 runs of 138 balls. Then, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer propelled the hosts to a huge 387 runs for the loss of 5 wickets, at the end of the first innings.

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West Indies were always behind in the game but at one moment, they were 192 for 3 during the 29th over. Shai Hope and Nicolas Pooran gave the visitors some hope, but they continuously lost wickets towards the end and were bowled out for 280. Hope and Pooran got 78 and 75 runs respectively.

Here, we are going to take a look at the three talking points from India's big win over the Windies.

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#3 Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav's spell in the middle overs changed the game

Kuldeep Yadav was back to his best

As mentioned above, chasing 388 was never going to be easy for the West Indies but the visitors were not going down without a fight. After a great opening partnership between Evin Lewis and Shai Hope of 61 runs, the Windies started losing wickets and found themselves 3 down for a mere 86 at the end of the 16th over.

But then Nicolas Pooran's positive mindset gave Virat Kohli and his Indian team a little headache. West Indies were scoring at a quick rate and it looked like Hope and Pooran will take the game away from the hosts.

That's where Mohammed Shami's two quick wickets and Kuldeep Yadav's hat-trick changed the game. Shami dismissed both Pooran and Kieron Pollard on consecutive balls, while Yadav picked up Shai Hope, Jason Holder, and Alzarri Joseph. Those five quick wickets in the middle overs brought shifted the balance towards India again.

Kuldeep Yadav.

#2 Slowly but surely, the number 4 and number 5 conundrum is starting to be solved for India

Rishabh Pant

After Rohit Sharma was dismissed, India had about 292 runs for the loss 3 wickets and the 43rd over was on. Both Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant were new to the crease and Kieron Pollard would have thought that his team could squeeze India.

But India's number 4 and number 5 had different ideas as both of them took the West Indies bowlers to the cleaners from the word go. Shreyas slammed 53 of just 32 balls, with 3 fours and 4 sixes and during the 47th over, the Delhi Capitals captain smashed Roston Chase for 31 runs.

Rishabh Pant, on the other hand, scored 39 runs in just 16 balls, hitting 3 fours and 4 sixes in the process. Both these players have come good for Virat Kohli's men during the last two ODI's and it has somewhat settled the number 4 and number 5 debate for now.

#1 Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul took the game away from West Indies

Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul

At the end of the day, it was the opening partnership between Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul that took the game away from the visitors. KL Rahul was the accelerator early on, while Rohit Sharma took his time to get into the groove.

But Rohit caught up as he always does and in the end, outscored his batting partner. This was the Hitman's 28th hundred and his 8th 150, which is the most by anyone in ODI cricket history.

Rahul, on the other hand, would have been disappointed that he didn't continue after reaching the landmark. Nevertheless, the Karnataka batsman seems to be enjoying the extended run he is getting in the opening spot due to Shikhar Dhawan's injury as he played well in the T20s and is now continuing his run in ODI cricket.

Rahul's next step should be to learn from Rohit Sharma about extending his stay on the crease after getting set.

Virat should be happy with his batsmen despite failing himself.