India will aim to complete the series win early when they take on West Indies in the second ODI of the three-match series on Wednesday (September 30).
The Men in Blue registered a big eight-wicket win in the series opener on Sunday (September 27). A win in the third game, to be played in Guwahati, will give India an unassailable lead of 2-0. Ahead of the game, Aakash Chopra has shared his take on India’s playing XI and opined that they should bring in Mohammed Siraj in place of Naman Dhir if there is dew. Siraj was shockingly left out of the playing XI for the first ODI.
“Since you are going to a place where the toss is not in your hands, and there might be dew, why not play Mohammed Siraj? I have nothing against Naman Dhir, he bats well, but he is still just a part-time bowler. He is not a wicket-taking bowler, and if the ball is wet, he is not a bowler at all. In such a case, you should go with your full-fledged bowlers,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“Form is not an issue, so batting depth should not be an issue. As good as Naman Dhir is, he is not the right choice for the next match because of dew, and neither are you looking at him as an option for the ODI World Cup 2027,” he added.
Naman didn’t get a chance to bat in the first ODI. The part-time spinner went for 33 runs in five overs he bowled. As for Siraj, he didn’t get a place in the playing XI as Nitish Kumar Reddy played as the third pacer. Prasidh Krishna spearheaded the pace attack, which also included Gurnoor Brar.
Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav were two frontline spinners while Naman played the role of the sixth bowler. Nitish and Naman bowled five overs each.
Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill slammed century in India’s win
Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill slammed century as India chased down the target of 296 with ease to go 1-0 up. Kohli remained unbeaten on 139 off just 88 balls. He hit 9 sixes in his knock. Gill played a captain’s knock and scored 110 off 108 balls. Kuldeep Yadav was bestowed with the Player of the Match award for taking a four-fer.