India vs West Indies 1st ODI at Kochi: West Indies likely XI

October 8, 2014

Oct 8: India will face West Indies in the opening encounter of the five-match One-Day International (ODI) series at Kochi on Wednesday.

The visitors are missing two of their biggest players in Chris Gayle and Sunil Narine, which lessens their chances of victory. However, the side still has plenty of firepower to beat any team on their day. Sameer Jhatakes a look at the likely combination that West Indies will field.

ODI KochiTop order: Lendl Simmons and Dwayne Smith will open the batting for West Indies. Both players are no strangers to Indian conditions having played the Indian Premier League (IPL). Smith has been a key player for MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK) this season, and it will be interesting to see if he can replicate that form for his national side too. Like Smith, Lendl Simmons too enjoys Indian pitches and would look to unsettle Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami in the early overs. Darren Bravo, who said that he would closely observe the Indian bowlers and have a plan before stepping out onto the field expected to come in at No three.

“In the last couple of years I have played quite a lot against India. The Indian bowling lineup has been changing time and again; there are some new bowlers on the scene now. It’s very important that I look at the clips of their bowlers and try and understand the way they go about things and have a very clear idea what exactly it is that I want to do when I step on the field.”, he was quoted as saying by bcci.tv.

Middle order:Captain Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard are the two all-rounders who will form the crux of the Windies middle-order. Both batsman are capable of hitting plenty of sixes, and MS Dhoni and his bowlers need to plan and execute well in order to get rid of them. In case any of them fails, the responsibility will lie with Denesh Ramdin and Darren Sammy to complete unfinished business. Ramdin scored 169 in the third ODI against Bangladesh, and even scored 102 in the warm up match against India A.

Lower order:Jason Holder who can hit a cricket ball a long way, is expected to come in at No 8. He had a good season for Barbados Tridents, and even scored a quickfire 52 in the warm up match against India A. His inclusion adds incredible depth to their batting line-up. The lanky Sulieman Benn is expected to fill the spinner’s slot in the absence of Narine. Benn did well against Bangladesh, but it remains to be seen whether he can replicate that performance against the talented Indian batting line-up. Kemar Roach and Ravi Rampaul would occupy the last two slots, and try and do justice to West Indies’ rich fast bowling legacy by picking up some wickets.

West Indies’ likely XI:Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith, Darren Bravo, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Kieron Pollard, Darren Sammy, Dwayne Bravo (c), Jason Holder, Sulieman Benn, Kemar Roach, Ravi Rampaul

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 2,2020

New Delhi, Jan 2: On the first day of the New Year 2020, Hardik Pandya announced his engagement with Serbian actor Natasa Stankovic.

The cricketer took to Instagram to share a photo with the actor and captioned the post: "Mai tera, Tu meri jaane, saara Hindustan. 01.01.2020 #engaged".

The 26-year-old shared three pictures and a short clip on the social media platform. In one photo, Stankovic can be seen flaunting her ring.

The couple got engaged in Dubai and were seen taking a ferry ride along with close friends.

On work front, Stankovic was last seen in a song from Bollywood movie The Body starring Emraan Hashmi and Rishi Kapoor. She had also made it to the finals of the TV show Nach Baliye with her ex-boyfriend Aly Goni.

Stankovic first became a household name after appearing as a contestant on famous reality show 'Bigg Boss 8'.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
May 25,2020

Chandigarh, May 25: Legendary former hockey player Balbir Singh Senior died in a private hospital on Monday, his family said.

He was 96 years old. His condition was critical for nearly a fortnight.

He was undergoing treatment at Fortis Mohali and was in a "semi-comatose condition".

He was hospitalised on May 8 with high fever and breathing trouble. His COVID-19 test came negative.

Balbir was part of the Indian teams that won gold at the 1948 London Olympics, Helsinki 1952 and Melbourne 1956. His record for most individual goals scored in an Olympic men's hockey final remains unbeaten.

Balbir had set this record when he scored five goals in India's 6-1 win over Netherlands in the gold medal match of the 1952 Games.

He was the head coach of the Indian team for the 1975 men's World Cup, which India won and the 1971 men's World Cup, where India earned a bronze medal. He was also conferred with the prestigious Padma Shri in 1957.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 23,2020

Melbourne, Jan 23: Sania Mirza's return to her first Grand Slam after a two-year break was cut short on Thursday when the former world number one was forced to retire midway through her first round match in women's doubles at the Australian Open due to a calf injury.

India's Mirza, who won six Grand Slam doubles titles, took a break from the game after the China Open in October 2017 and gave birth to her son a year later.

The 33-year-old made a winning return to the WTA Tour at this month's Hobart International with Ukrainian Nadiia Kichenok, picking up her 42nd WTA doubles title and the first since winning the women's doubles in Brisbane in 2017.

Mirza said she strained her calf muscle in her right leg during the Hobart final.

"It just got worse in the match. It was bit of a bad strain, but I had a few days off," she told reporters. "So I obviously had to try to do whatever I could to try to get on the court.

"It felt okay when I went on the court, but it was tough to move right. I just felt like I'm gonna tear it or something pretty bad."

Mirza won her first Grand Slam in mixed doubles at the Australian Open in 2009 and also bagged the women's doubles in 2016.

Mirza always believed there was tennis left in her which inspired her comeback, she told Reuters on Sunday.

She had already pulled out of the Australian Open mixed doubles, where she was to partner compatriot Rohan Bopanna.

Mirza and Kichenok were trailing the Chinese pair of Xinyun Han and Lin Zhu 6-2 1-0 on Thursday when the Indian had to call it quits due to the injury.

"As a tennis player you want to compete, it is the Grand Slam. If it's any other tournament, you would probably take a call and be like 'I don't want to risk it'," she said.

Mirza, who is married to former Pakistan cricket captain Shoaib Malik, said she would take two weeks to recover and was hoping to play at next month's Dubai championships.

"When you play a professional sport, injuries are really part of it. And it's something that you have to accept," she said. "Sometimes the timing is really not ideal, it's tough that it happened in a Grand Slam, or just before a Grand Slam."

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.