After two pretty ordinary and straightforward wins in the Test series India might well face a tougher test when they compete in a five match ODI series against West Indies over the next couple of weeks.
India have shown their class in this format of the game over a period of time while West Indies will want to get something going ahead of the World Cup next summer so we should get a lot of decent cricket out of these five matches.
Schedule
1st ODI: Oct 21 at Guwahati
2nd ODI: Oct 24 at Visakhapatnam
3rd ODI: Oct 27 at Pune
4th ODI: Oct 29 at Mumbai
5th ODI: Nov 1 at Thiruvananthapuram
India
We have not seen India in action since the Asia Cup which they won with a bit of a second string side but they were not as convincing in the final as they would have wanted. They are now full steam ahead in terms of their focus on the World Cup next summer so I would expect India to want to get into a real groove over the next few months as they gear up for their bid to regain that title.
India might still be smarting from losing to England a few months ago so the West Indies are likely to get the very best of the Indians here. You have to go back fully three years for the last time India lost a bilateral series at home and if there is any statistic that highlights the size of the task that faces the tourists it is surely that one.
West Indies
The demise of the West Indies in this format in particular has been one of the big shames of cricket in recent times. The good news is we will be seeing them at the World Cup next summer but their place at that party was anything but certain and they had to go through the qualifying competition to book their spot there.
Credit to them for achieving that but they really need to push on over the next few months if they are going to launch anything remotely resembling a charge for even just being competitive in that tournament. Such has been the fall from grace of the West Indies in this format you have to go back to 2012 for the last time they won a bilateral series against anyone other than Ireland, Bangladesh or Zimbabwe.
Head to Head
There have been 18 previous bilateral series between these two grand cricketing nations and it is India who hold the edge in them having won 10 to the eight that West Indies have won. That run is helped by the fact that India have won the last seven series. India hold a 5-4 lead in series that have been played in India.
The match record is quite close in those series though. West Indies actually have the edge in that area with 41 wins to 34 losses and a couple of no results although a lot of their victories came early on in their meetings. Recent history suggests India will win this series by a fair margin.
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Betting
I don’t think there will be too many people out there who will give West Indies much of a chance in this series. They might be dangerous enough to land a match along the way but I would be surprised if they fare any better than that over the course of the five matches. We won’t be getting rich going at the series markets so I’ll take a player bet for it instead.
We saw in the recent Caribbean Premier League how much talent Shimron Hetmyer has to offer this game and he will have the perfect platform in this series to showcase his skills. ODI cricket in India is usually played on some good wickets and size of grounds which he can dominate on. IPL gigs will be up for grabs for those who impress in these five matches and although Hetmyer struggled in the Test matches he already has two tons and a 50 in just 12 innings in this format. I expect to see the best of him with the bat in this series and 5/1 on him top scoring for the West Indies looks big to me.
Tips
WON – Back S.Hetmyer Top West Indies Series Batsman for a 2/10 stake at 6.00 with Bet365
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