India vs West Indies: 5 Downsides for India from the ODI series

India won the fifth ODI against West Indies by a convincing margin of 9 wickets. It was their second biggest win in terms of number of balls spared. They stormed to victory in the 15th over itself with a whopping 211 balls to spare. As a result of the clinical triumph, India have won the series by a comfortable margin of 3-1.

Khaleel Ahmed has been the new find of the series as the third seamer in their bowling attack. India should feel encouraged by the resurgence of Ambati Rayadu at the number four spot. Jadeja seems to have rediscovered his mojo in the middle-overs.

Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have completed 1000 runs for the year. During the series, the Indian skipper became the fastest to reach 10,000 ODI runs. MS Dhoni has gone past Mark Boucher’s record for the most number of dismissals.

On the face of things, it looks like everything has gone perfectly well for India in the series. But it is not totally true. The resounding manner of victory in the last two ODIs has masked the weaknesses that surfaced earlier in the series.

Here are five ominous signs for India from the series.

---

#5 Shikhar Dhawan's surprisingly meager returns

Dhawan had a rare failure

Shikhar Dhawan came into the series with a lot of expectations after a successful Asia Cup. But his form dipped in this series. He got starts in the second, third and fourth ODIs with scores of 29, 35 and 38 but failed to capitalize on them. He finished the series with 112 runs in 5 innings at a below-par average of 22. In the T20I series, Dhawan has to start all over again to regain his form.

#4 MS Dhoni’s batting slide continues

Dhoni struggled with the bat yet again

MS Dhoni finished the series with just 50 runs from three innings. When a lot was expected from him in the third ODI at Pune, the former skipper flatter to deceive. Having been dropped from the T20I squad, he does not have any international cricket to look out for during the next couple of months.

Dhoni's batting form will certainly be a massive worry for the team management. The Indian middle order had their limited opportunity in the series but failed to click when it really mattered at Pune.

#3 Yuzvendra Chahal’s diminishing strike-rate

Chahal was not at his usual best in this series

Yuzvendra Chahal played the first three ODIs of the series and took five wickets. But he proved to be pretty expensive and his wicket-taking ability has considerably diminished since the Asia Cup.

In the last 11 ODIs starting from the tour of England, the leg-spinner has taken only 13 wickets. Besides, he was found wanting on the field too. With Jadeja making a solid case, his spot in the playing eleven is not guaranteed anymore.

#2 Umesh Yadav’s woes with the white ball

Umesh Yadav is unable to replicate his Test form into the limited-overs arena

Time and again Umesh Yadav has proved that he does not fit adeptly in the modern-day limited-overs formats. Although his ability to generate rapid pace has become an important part of the bowling attack in Tests, he is an expensive bowler with the white ball.

The right-arm pacer finished with inadequate figures of 0 for 64 and 1 for 78 in the two matches that he played in the series. Maybe, it's time for the selectors to consider another pace option in place of Umesh.

#1 India’s blind gamble with DRS

Kohli has been impulsive with his reviews

India’s gamble with DRS continued in the entire series. They have been reckless in their decision to go for reviews. In the third ODI, they burnt their solitary review in the fourth over of the innings against Chanderpaul Hemraj. The opener has been struggling right through the series and India should not have wasted their review against him. As expected, he got out soon afterwards.

The same thing happened in the fourth ODI when Bumrah once again wasted the review against Kieran Powell. India’s decision to use the reviews injudiciously could prove fatal against stronger teams as there is only one unsuccessful review for each team in the 50-over format.

To sum things up, the ODI series was not all about positives alone. There are some areas of concern which need to be addressed before the World Cup. With this series win, the team management should not try to sweep the weaknesses under the carpet.