India vs West Indies 2019: 3 battles to watch out for in the ODI series

#3 Shai Hope vs Mohammed Shami

Mohammed Shami

Mohammed Shami has been on a roller-coaster ride lately. It seemed everything was falling apart when his wife heaped damning allegations about his personal life. But within eight months of that, all seems good for India's spearhead; he is back to his habit of troubling batsmen and taking wickets.

Shami's raw pace and talent were known to everyone, but it is still surprising how the 29-year old has suddenly shifted gears in the recent past. He has been phenomenal in his latest matches; only Pat Cummins has claimed more wickets in international cricket this year.

Shami will be up against a very dependable opener in Shai Hope.

Shai Hope

Hope scored 250 runs (including one century and half-century) from five games on the last tour, and is one of the most reliable batsmen in the West Indies lineup. The 26-year old averages 60.54 in his last 41 innings, which includes six centuries and 10 half-centuries. The Windies keeper is also the fourth-highest run-scorer in ODIs in 2019.

Kieron Pollard will be hoping for Hope to step up and set a solid platform for the explosive middle-order, while the Indian captain will be relying on Shami to wreak havoc with the new cherry. The player who wins this encounter at the start of the innings would automatically boost his team’s odds of getting a positive result at the end.

Other battles to watch out for:

Rishabh Pant vs Hayden Walsh Jr

Roston Chase vs Deepak Chahar