Five Talking points from the first ODI between India and West Indies

If we look into the first game of the ODI between India and the West Indies in Chennai, we saw decent performances from the likes Rishabh Pant, Kedar Jadhav and Shreyas Iyer after a rare failure for the Indian top order. Team India made a total of 287 for loss of 8 wickets- skipper Kohli seemed satisfied with his batsmen, but the fans would’ve expected more, especially given the position India were in when Pant and Iyer had both got their eye in.

Shimron Hetmyer and Shai Hope both made hundreds and India’s bowling attack came apart at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. The West Indies emerged comfortably victorious in the end by 8 wickets.

Those of us into cricket betting at 10cric.com– 10CRIC India provides fantastic techniques of the best betting sites that attract the attention of a million users, sensed an opportunity for the visitors when they axed Yuzvendra Chahal and included Shivam Dube, meaning that the latter would have to shoulder the bulk of the fifth bowler’s responsibilities.

Following is a list of the five talking points from India’s loss:

Windies attack India’s fifth bowler

Hardik Pandya is known to be the Indian cricket team’s fifth bowler but owing to his injury, Kohli chose to back Shivam Dube, who had impressed in the T20 series. Dube however had a terrible evening with the ball as he conceded 68 runs from 7.5 overs at the economy rate of 8.7. Kedar Jadhav didn’t fare too much better- he was taken for 11 runs from the solitary over he bowled. If Pandya doesn’t recover soon, India do need to find a solution for that problematic fifth bowler’s spot- especially in conditions that favour the batsmen. They might look to replace Dube with another spinner or fast bowler to maintain the team’s balance.

Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer bring positivity for the team

A big positive for the Indian cricket team were Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer’s performances after the West Indies got India’s famed front three cheaply. Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Virat Kohli got out for 36, 6 and 4 respectively- bringing back memories of that horror World Cup semi-final exit at the hands of New Zealand. But Iyer and Pant added 114 runs together to stabilise the innings. The former made 70 of 88 balls, while the latter finished with 71 runs of 69 balls. It would’ve been great for both of them to make centuries but this was a fantastic performance under pressure nevertheless.

Hetmyer makes his mark

While Shai Hope held up one end (albeit slowly), Shimron Hetmyer set up about stamping his mark on the series before the IPL auction. The southpaw’s scoring rate comfortably made up for Hope’s slower innings at the other end, and he hammered a whopping seven sixes before eventually falling for 139. By the time he exitedm the match was firmly in the hands of the Windies, and Hope, who completed his century from 150 deliveries, took the visitors past the finishing line.

Another umpiring controversy

There was a moment of controversy when Roston Chase ran Ravi Jadeja out. The umpires on the field gave it not out, but chose to go upstairs only after Windies skipper Kieron Pollard complained. Was Pollard assisted by views from his dug out?

India sloppy in the field and with the ball

With Bumrah absent, India weren’t at their best with the ball. With Jadeja and Dube- their fourth and fifth bowlers, both leaking boundaries, India struggled to stem the flow of runs. There were dropped catches and missed run outs that further hurt the hosts’ cause- all in all, a very shoddy performance in the field.

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