3 key aspects for India to keep in mind ahead of ODI series against West Indies

Team India are all set to begin their 2023 ODI World Cup preparation on 27 July when they will take on West Indies in the first of the three-match ODI series. However, the Windies failed to get qualified for the upcoming event and hence, fans are expecting a dominant show from the Men in Blue. But there are certain aspects which the team would like to improve during this upcoming series.   

Here are three key aspects for Team India to keep in mind ahead of ODI series against West Indies:

1. Contribution from middle-order

Players like Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant are set to miss this series due to injury setbacks. Hence, India have to look at options like Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson, and Ishan Kishan to get some essential contributions from the middle order. In recent ODIs, Suryakumar and Hardik failed to show consistency while it will be interesting to see also whether Jadeja or Pandya will be given the finisher role. In their last 10 ODI innings, Suryakumar failed to get a single fifty while Pandya scored only two fifties respectively.   

2. Inexperienced Pace Bowling unit

Experienced bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Umesh Yadav are not a part of the squad. Young pacer Prasidh Krisha is yet to recover from the injury setback. So, India will go with an inexperienced pace bowling unit consisting of Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Shardul Thakur, and Umran Malik. Apart from Siraj, other bowlers are yet to cement their place in the ODI setup for the Men in Blue. So, ahead of the World Cup, this will be a huge opportunity for them to show their potential in order to remain in the queue. 

3. Proper wicket-keeping option

Rishabh Pant is still recovering from the injury and is most likely to miss the upcoming World Cup as well. On the other hand, KL Rahul is yet to recover. So, India have Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson as options for the wicket-keeping. Sanju is known as a solid middle-order batter while Ishan has tasted success so far while batting at the top-order. So, it will be interesting to see who gets the nod when India fields their playing XI in the first ODI.