West Indies play for pride, again

Monday, June 13, North Sound
Start time 0900 (1300 GMT)

West Indies were expected to challenge a young team missing its star players. Though India were still favourites, the hosts will be disappointed with the series being decided in just three games. They did put India under pressure on occasion and should have won the third ODI, but Rohit Sharma, who's been impressive on his return, batted maturely with Harbhajan Singh and Praveen Kumar to seal victory. Having managed a 3-0 lead, and victory from a dire situation in the previous game, there'll be plenty of confidence in this Indian side. West Indies have shown some spirit on the field, but some ill-disciplined batting, squandered starts and a continuing vulnerability against spin has let them down.

Meanwhile, there remains distraction off the field in the West Indies camp. Darren Sammy has had to issue a clarification on why he didn't attend the West Indies Players' Association awards ceremony, Dwayne Bravo asked for a break after playing just two games upon his return from the IPL, and Chris Gayle's return appears to be hinging on a meeting with the WICB, which is yet to take place. On the field, Kieron Pollard's ODI woes against the big teams continued though there was one major encouragement in the performance of Andre Russell. While India have dealt with their rather heated build-up to this tour with a dominant show, West Indies are yet again left to rely on dead rubbers to inspire confidence ahead of the Tests.

West Indies: LLLWW
India: WWWWW

Suresh Raina would have been under some pressure at the start of the tour but things have panned out well for the India captain. In his previous stint as captain, India failed to qualify for the final of a tri-series that involved Zimbabwe, but his young team has delivered this time. He played a crucial role in India's chase in the first ODI but played an irresponsible shot in the third to leave his side in trouble, something he'd want to make amends for.

Kemar Roach has been one of West Indies' most promising pace prospects in recent times. He appears to have found the going a little tough in his last few games. He had a good World Cup, but has picked up just two wickets in his last six ODIs and has been a little expensive. It's been Sammy who's provided the wickets at the top; Roach needs to do his bit too.

Raina has said India could make some changes. Ishant Sharma is still waiting for a chance and given he'll be playing in the Test series, he could be brought in with either of Praveen Kumar or Munaf Patel being rested. India could consider giving Harbhajan a break as well to provide R Ashwin an opportunity while opener Shikhar Dhawan could make way for Manoj Tiwary.

India (possible): 1 Parthiv Patel (wk), 2 Virat Kohli, 3 Manoj Tiwary, 4 S Badrinath, 5 Rohit Sharma, 6 Suresh Raina (capt), 7 Yusuf Pathan, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 Amit Mishra, 11 Munaf Patel/Ishant Sharma.

West Indies have named an unchanged 13-man squad for tomorrow's game. They handed Danza Hyatt an ODI debut in the previous match, preferring him ahead of Darren Bravo. Will Bravo come back tomorrow?

West Indies (possible): 1 Lendl Simmons, 2 Kirk Edwards, 3 Marlon Samuels, 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan 5 Darren Bravo / Danza Hyatt, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Andre Russell 8 Darren Sammy (capt), 9 Carlton Baugh (wk), 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Devendra Bishoo

Stats and trivia

"We will try to give chances to all the players. Ashwin, Ishant, Tiwary and Vinay have been waiting for a chance. We shall strive to give everyone a chance in the next two games."
Suresh Raina