India defeated West Indies 2-1 in the recent three-match one-day international series at home. These matches were played in Thiruvananthapuram, Guwahati, and New Chandigarh, and India pocketed the series by winning the first two games, but the West Indies avoided a whitewash by winning the third match.
Despite India’s success in the ODI series against the West Indies, there are still some areas where India needs to improve. With the coming 2027 ODI World Cup, these 3 major areas might become more important in deciding India’s best possible squad.
Here are the 3 major areas of concern for Team India after the IND vs. WI ODI series:
3. Difficulty in finding the right combination
The Indian ODI team were missing some of their first-choice players, including Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, and Arshdeep Singh, who were away on Asian Games duty. This led to Shubman Gill and co. making do with whatever players were left. Frequent changes in the team’s make-up hamper the players from forming any clear role as well as partnership. At the same time, selectors have to keep finding other players as backups in case of any injury or lack of form. The priority needs to be given to ensuring that the main team gets enough practice playing in ODIs as a group.
2. Middle Order remains untested
The top order of Indian players, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Virat Kohli, did well in the first two ODIs, and when they failed, Ruturaj Gaikwad and KL Rahul stepped up. However, India did miss Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel in the middle order, who could have stopped the downslide in Mullanpur. The middle order in ODI cricket is vital for middle overs and must also score at a fast pace in the closing overs. For India, they would require batsmen who can turn the strike and also have good closing abilities.
1. Pace bowling depth
A glaring issue that emerged for India in the West Indies ODI series was the poor performance by their fast bowlers. Mohammed Siraj was benched for the first two games, while Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh were in Japan. In their absence, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Auqib Nabi, and Anshul Kamboj were taken to cleaners. India gave away 405 runs and failed to defend 351. The support acts will have to prove their mettle with the ball as much as with the death overs. The fast bowlers have proved to be promising; however, they do not have sufficient international exposure yet ahead of the World Cup.
