India Take 2-0 Lead Over West Indies Ahead Of Third ODI

KL Rahul

West Indies head coach Daren Sammy has described the India tour as a “good gauge” of where his team stands in one-day international cricket, even though the series has already been lost. The assessment comes ahead of the third ODI in New Chandigarh, where West Indies will try to prevent a whitewash after India won the opening two matches.

The match will also be New Chandigarh’s ODI debut, with the venue expected to offer good pace and bounce based on what has been seen in the Indian Premier League. India’s probable XI includes KL Rahul at No. 5 as wicketkeeper, while West Indies are expected to retain the more enterprising combination they used in the second game.

West Indies need wickets

West Indies have taken only four wickets across the first two matches while conceding 706 runs. The number of wickets is the same as the number of centuries they have conceded in the series. If West Indies are to prevent India from completing a whitewash, their bowling attack will have to find more penetration without losing discipline.

India’s batting has dominated the series, with the first two matches producing 811 runs and five century-makers as scoring records continued to fall. India chased 406 in 43.3 overs in one of those matches, a performance that prompted India head coach Gautam Gambhir to say, “This is not cricket, this is only batting”.

The scale of the scoring has placed West Indies’ bowlers under sustained pressure. Sammy said the pitches had been very good for West Indies’ batters but harsh on their bowlers, while also calling the series a useful measure of what the team must do to compete with a top side.

West Indies have made two of their highest ODI totals in the series, scoring 405 and 389, but both totals came in defeat. Their batting has therefore given India a contest, while the bowling has not been able to match the pace of India’s scoring.

Jayden Seales has tested India’s batters more than West Indies’ other bowlers in the series, although his average is 110 and his economy rate is 7.33. His Test average is under 26 and his Test strike rate is 46, figures that point to the attributes of a threatening fast bowler.

The match preview said Seales needed a stronger commitment to his lengths, while his team-mates needed to ensure that pressure was not released from the other end. That combination will be important against an Indian line-up that has repeatedly capitalised when the bowling has loosened.

India have also not been especially impressive with the ball, but their attack has been affected by the absence of Jasprit Bumrah and the hamstring injury suffered by Prasidh Krishna in the second ODI. Krishna walked off five overs into his work in that match.

Kuldeep Yadav has taken six wickets with the old ball, helping India restrict West Indies to totals below what they appeared set to achieve in both ODIs. India may nevertheless have to defend a total in the third match, particularly if West Indies win the toss and choose to bat first again.

Gill and India’s batting depth

Shubman Gill is one of the central figures in India’s batting surge. He has scored 11 hundreds in 69 matches, including two double-centuries, and has already made 894 runs in 10 innings this year.

Gill has nine more ODIs left this year, and his tally of 1584 runs in 2023 is under threat. The preview also said Sachin Tendulkar’s world record of 1894 runs in a calendar year could come within reach if Gill maintains his current rate of scoring and the pitches continue to support high totals.

The concern for West Indies is not limited to Gill. India’s modern batting approach has combined intent, discipline, fitness and an appetite for large scores, with the available conditions also helping the players attack.

Sammy singled out Gill and Rohit Sharma for praise, saying they “didn’t really give a chance” to the West Indies bowlers. He said West Indies had identified rotation of strike, intent and the use of spin as positive elements in their own batting approach, but added that the team still had to keep pushing the boundary.

“If the surface dictates that you need 450, then I guess we've got to get 475, you know, and that's one of the challenges,” Sammy said. He also said that after seeing Gill’s onslaught and the nature of the pitches, there was “no excuse” for West Indies not to score runs.

Sammy told his players that when they receive pitches of that kind, a team may require a batter to score 170 rather than merely 100. He said Shai Hope, the West Indies captain, had played a very good innings and had been batting extremely well in the conditions.

India’s probable XI places Rahul at No. 5 and gives him the wicketkeeper’s role. The listed batting order has Rohit Sharma opening, followed by captain Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rahul.

Naman Dhir is expected at No. 6, followed by Ravindra Jadeja, Auqib Nabi, Kuldeep Yadav, Gurnoor Brar and Mohammed Siraj. The team combination reflects India’s preference for batting depth, a selection approach that was also cited when Kuldeep was benched in England.

Changes around India’s bowling

With Krishna ruled out by injury, the preview suggested that Mohammed Siraj should get a game even though Anshul Kamboj has been flown in as a replacement. India had previously preferred Krishna and Gurnoor Brar, two similar bowlers, over Siraj in this series.

Naman Dhir left the field without completing his seventh over in the second ODI, but he was reported to be fine and expected to remain in the side. India were also not expected to discard Auqib Nabi after only one match.

Nabi made what the preview described as a decent comeback at the death and played a role in restricting West Indies to 405. There may be a temptation to give Yashasvi Jaiswal a match, but resting Rohit Sharma was described as an unpopular move because he now plays only ODIs and does not get too many games.

India’s recent ODI record in the supplied team information is listed as WWLLW in their last five completed matches, with the most recent match first. West Indies’ corresponding record is listed as LLWLL.

West Indies look for a response

West Indies’ probable XI has John Campbell and Keacy Carty at the top, followed by captain and wicketkeeper Shai Hope, Amir Jangoo, Sherfane Rutherford and Roston Chase. Keemo Paul, Shamar Joseph, Alzarri Joseph, Seales and Vitel Lawes complete the listed combination.

The preview said West Indies had used a much more enterprising XI in the second match. Although the result was similar, the team had strengthened its bowling on paper and was expected to retain that XI.

West Indies last won while batting first in August 2025 and have failed to defend totals seven times since then. Their last two wins came while chasing, and their win-loss record while chasing in that period is 2-4.

The team’s two highest ODI totals, 405 and 389, have both ended in defeat. That record illustrates the gap between West Indies’ ability to score heavily and their inability to turn those totals into wins in the current series.

Sammy identified the closing stages of the Guwahati match as one area where West Indies had missed an opportunity. West Indies were 329/3 after 40 overs and finished on 405/7.

“When you find yourself in a good position on a good pitch, at 30 overs you should be able to double the score,” Sammy said. He added that West Indies were around 230 at 30 overs, which meant they could have been looking at 450 or more, but scored only around 70 runs in the last 10 overs.

“It is a time where you are supposed to accelerate a bit,” Sammy said. His comments underline the difference between building a strong position and converting it into the type of total that can withstand India’s batting.

Sammy on West Indies’ wider struggles

West Indies arrived in the series with a skewed record and amid considerable pay cuts linked to financial restructuring by Cricket West Indies. Cricket West Indies announced a 25 per cent reduction in retainer fees for international players, which its chief executive described as “not ideal, but necessary”.

Sammy acknowledged that the circumstances were difficult for the team. “Look, that is not what you want to hear before a series,” he said when asked how difficult it had been to motivate the players amid those developments.

He also referred to the financial situation he had discussed during the Test series in late 2025. “But again, it is no secret to me, to you guys. I think, earlier this year when I was here for the Test series (in late 2025), we spoke about the financial situation of West Indies cricket. And I guess the administrators, the board, you still got to find a way to stay afloat,” Sammy said.

Ahead of the third ODI, he said there was no magic answer to the problem. “If you have a business that is not doing well financially, you have to find ways to sustain it,” Sammy said.

“Unless, I say ‘Abracadabra!’, then we get some big sum of money where we could entice our players to, you know, just let them know that everything is going to be okay financially. That is the situation we are facing,” he said.

Sammy said he had told the players there was no better time to play India because a win against the best team could provide leverage for West Indies as a whole and for the players personally. He said performances against India could bring an additional incentive that might later reward the players for their performances.

“I was a professional, I know what I told the guys,” Sammy said. He described the series as a “big, big mirror” reflecting the struggles faced by West Indies cricket.

The challenge away from home

Sammy, who took over as West Indies head coach in April last year, has also focused on correcting the team’s ODI record at home. From the start of 2014 until the end of 2023, West Indies won only four ODI series at home.

The team then won three consecutive home ODI series between 2024 and 2025. “What we've been able to do over the last two and a half years at home is make home a fortress,” Sammy said.

The problem has been performances away from home. West Indies have not beaten India in India since 2002. They have also not beaten a Full Member side outside home since defeating Afghanistan in India in 2019, and before that Bangladesh in 2011.

The India series has therefore tested West Indies against a top-ranked opponent in conditions that have helped batting. Sammy said West Indies might not have had the luck of bowling first, which could have allowed them to use reverse swing in drier conditions.

“Maybe we have not had the luck of bowling first, where you could bring whatever reverse swing or whatever there is in drier conditions,” Sammy said. He described the series as a “bat-vs-bat contest”, echoing Gambhir’s assessment of the conditions and scoring.

Sammy nevertheless said the challenge remained present for both sides. West Indies needed to keep finding ways to put India’s batting under pressure through greater discipline and consistency in their lines and lengths.

What the third ODI represents

The third match will be played at a venue making its ODI debut, with the pitch expected to provide pace and bounce. The match preview said assistance for bowlers could be added or removed by design, but the broader intention for ODIs was to provide good batting pitches without repeating the extreme conditions seen in Guwahati.

The players are expected to welcome the milder temperatures and lower humidity just below the foothills of the Himalayas. The conditions could again place the emphasis on whether West Indies’ bowlers can contain India’s batting and whether their own batters can make the most of a favourable surface.

India have won 12 of their last 13 ODIs against West Indies. Eight of the 13 ODI double-centuries have been scored by India batters, including six by active cricketers.

For India, the match offers another opportunity to test a combination that includes Rahul as wicketkeeper, a possible return for Siraj and a bowling group affected by Krishna’s injury. For West Indies, it is an opportunity to address the bowling failures that have allowed India’s top order to dominate while building on the batting performances that have produced 405 and 389 in the series.

Sammy said every game against India was a massive event and described the tour as a chance to measure West Indies against the No.1-ranked team in the world. “I thought it has been a good gauge as to where we are in the context of ODI cricket,” Sammy said.

He added that West Indies had to understand what was required to compete with and beat a top side. The third ODI will provide one more test of whether the team can turn its strong batting positions into a complete performance.