Team India is gearing up for a month-long multi-format tour against the West Indies starting July 12 in Dominica with a two-match Test series. The two Test matches will be followed by three ODIs and five T20Is as the Men in Blue begin their build-up for Cricket World Cup 2023 in India in October-November.
While the Test series will mark the beginning of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 cycle for India, the focus will solely be on ODIs till September as the two-time champions look to zero in on their best playing XI, despite injuries to a few of their key stars including Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah.
West Indies may not be part of the 2023 World Cup but an international match is an international match and Team India will hope to get their best practice in the series before the Asia Cup. The series will also mark a much-needed ODI practice for the likes of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav - players who are certain to feature in the playing XI.
While batters will hope to score heaps of runs against a weaker team in the West Indies, the bowlers too will be eager to do well, especially Jadeja, who is nearing a big record. Jadeja, who has played 29 matches against the West Indies has 41 wickets to his name when the two teams have met in ODIs.
Jadeja is joint-third highest wicket-taker in India-West Indies ODIs, on level with legendary leg-spinner Anil Kumble. Jadeja needs one wicket to surpass Kumble on the list but the top two are not far. Jadeja needs three more wickets to overtake Kapil Dev (43) to become the highest Indian wicket-taker in India-West Indies ODIs and if he takes four wickets, he will become the leading wicket-taker in IND-WI ODIs surpassing West Indies legend Cortney Walsh (44).
Most wickets in India-West Indies ODIs
44 - Courtney Walsh (West Indies) in 38 matches
43 - Kapil Dev (India) in 42 matches
41 - Anil Kumble (India) in 26 matches
41 - Ravindra Jadeja (India) in 29 matches
37 - Mohammed Shami (India) in 18 matches
The three-match ODI series will begin on July 27 with the next two games to be played on July 29 and August 1.
