Following their dramatic Test draw last week, India now face the West Indies in the first of five one-day internationals in Cuttack on Tuesday.
The Windies proved to be worthy opponents in the five-day encounters but India are masters of the one-day game and we will take a look at who might prevail (India 4/11, Windies 2/1 Match Prices).
Last week’s exhilarating Test in Mumbai proved that five-day cricket is far from dead and can be every bit as exciting as the two shortened versions of the game.
But the Indian crowds love their one-day cricket and will flood through the gates to see the world champions attempt to do to Darren Sammy’s men what they did to England and secure a 5-0 whitewash.
However this West Indian unit has already proved that it has a bit about it and they more than matched MS Dhoni’s men for large parts of the recent series.
A few of the Caribbean stars stood up to be counted and, in Darren Bravo, they have unearthed a real gem who is already being compared to the great Brian Lara (Bravo 7/2 Top Windies Batsman).
He will, again, be the tourists’ main threat but they have been boosted by the arrival of a few one-day specialists.
Kieran Pollard has put in some outstanding domestic one-day displays both in 50 and 20-over cricket for his various teams around the globe and he will bring some much-needed fire-power down the order, with his ability to clear the ropes late in an innings.
It is true that his average of a shade over 21 will not strike fear into the Indian attack, but he can change the course of a game in a flash and will have to be watched.
Adrian Barath and Lendl Simmons look set to open the innings after enjoying considerable success against Bangladesh and both were absent from the Windies’ eight-wicket defeat to the Asians last time out when they were dismissed for a woeful 61.
Sammy is developing into an excellent captain who has led a young side with skill to, maybe, punch above their weight in recent times, but they are now starting to evolve into an effective side in all forms of the game and players such as Kieran Powell, Kemar Roach and Ravi Rampaul should be around for quite a few years to come.
West Indies are certainly a side on the up but will now face one of the toughest assignments in world cricket – a series with the best ODI side in the world on their own patch.
England found out the hard way that they are a much tougher nut to crack at home and there is no reason to suggest that things will be different this time around.
Sammy and his men do have a slight advantage over the English in the fact that they have already played a Test series and have become used to the sub-continental pitches.
But they will face an Indian side now brimming with confidence after arresting their decline against England and tasting victory once again in the Tests.
With Dhoni rested, Virender Sehwag will skipper the side but will not be able to call on the services of Sachin Tendulkar, who is being rested and whose search for an elusive 100th century will have to wait a bit longer.
But this is an experienced and talented line-up with the likes of Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Parthiv Patel and Suresh Raina.
Add to that the emerging talents of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane, Praveen Kumar and Vinay Kumar and it is obvious that another clean sweep is possible.
Sehwag returns to his favourite form of the game and, with Kohli and Raina proving against England that they are the real deal, runs should not be hard to come by (Sehwag 3/1 Top India Batsman).
Recent injuries have given a few fringe players the chance to show what they can do and they have not disappointed and the changing of the guard, when it eventually comes, should be seamless.
The biggest factor in the hosts’ favour is their knowledge of how to play on their own pitches.
Like England at home, they know how to adapt to the conditions and more often than not come out on top in close contests.
Whether or not these five games are that close remains to be seen but everything points to another Indian success in the 50-over contests despite the Caribbean resurgence.
