India were domineering in the way they defeated the West Indies by an innings and 141 runs at Windsor Park in Roseau, Trinidad, and could have even claimed the 2nd Test of the two-match Test series if the inclement weather conditions at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain wouldn't have come to the rescue of the hosts.
Based on India's clinical display in the Test series, the visitors were rated as the overwhelming favourites to seal the ODI series too without breaking a sweat. Though India's stutter in the first ODI at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados in itself came as a surprise to many, a remarkable comeback in the second fixture left many scratching their heads in bewilderment after the Shai Hope-led side convincingly outclassed the visitors to bring the scoreline to level terms.
India chose to rest senior pros like skipper Rohit Sharma and former captain Virat Kohli in a bid to "find answers to few questions" as mentioned by the stand-in captain Hardik Pandya at the toss after being asked to bat first. The game turned pear-shaped for team India as it progressed towards its end and a result in the favour of the Windies has brought the series to life.
Pitch Report
This will be the first time the Brain Lara Stadium will play host to an ODI series and not much is known about the surface as it has only hosted Youth ODIs, Women's ODIs, and a T20I. The wicket is not expected to provide a lot of aid to the batters and hence the bowlers will be always in the game. However, batting on surfaces that are not conducive to batting will throw their own set of challenges to the batters and it might make a very good spectacle for the viewers if the batters display some character.
Weather Forecast
There is more than 30% of chance of rain during the course of the contest, with the same being more than 30 percent at certain phases in the entire contest. The temperature will be between 32 to 34 during the match and the humidity level will be as high as 72%. Fans would hope the rain clouds do not hover anywhere to close the venue and both teams get a fair shot at claiming the series.
Playing XIs:
India:
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat/Umran Malik, Mukesh Kumar
West Indies:
Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Alick Athanaze, Shai Hope, and wicketkeeper, Shimron Hetmyer, Keacy Carty, Romario Shepherd, Yannic Cariah, Alzarri Joseph, and Gudakesh Motie, Jayden Seales
