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With India one win away from a place in the semi-finals and West Indies having no realistic chance of qualifying, Thursday’s match between the two teams might have no bearings on the fate of the tournament. But one can’t yet rule out the possibility of an exciting contest.
India did survive a scare against Afghanistan and would look to return to normalcy as the competition heads towards the business end. But heading into the match at Old Trafford, they have to be cautious of the Windies team and its army of matchwinners who can single-handedly win a match for their side on a given day.
Here’s a look at the five West Indies cricketers who might pose some serious trouble for team India on Thursday:
A 39-year-old Christopher Henry Gayle still continues to possess the ability to change a game in matter of few overs. After missing his mark in the first five matches in the competition, Gayle finally found form against New Zealand.
After the knock against New Zealand, Gayle will be high on confidence and that won’t be good news for India. Ideally, India should get rid of him as soon as possible because a well-set Gayle can be ominous for India despite the illustrious bowling line-up of India.
Gayle is leading the run charts among the West Indies cricketers with 194 runs in 5 innings, which include two fifties.
The wicket-keeper batsman is second on the run chart among the Windies batsman.
Batting at number three, the slow but steady Hope has done well for his side till now in the competition. Apart from a 96 against Bangladesh, Hope has also scored a useful 68 against table-toppers Australia.
It would be interesting to see whether Hope opens the batting against India, like in the previous match, or returns to his number three spot. Against New Zealand, Hope had replaced struggling Evin Lewis at the top.
So, India should be mindful of him and not let him settle down. If allowed to spend time in the middle, Hope will make sure that he makes India pay.
With back-to-back fifties, in-form Hetmyer would be looking to score his maiden World Cup hundred against India at Old Trafford.
He has already notched up 171 runs in five innings in the World Cup with successive scores of 50 and 54 against Bangladesh and New Zealand respectively.
In his short career of 31 ODIs, Hetmyer has already developed a liking towards India. He scored a century against India last year in Guwahati in the 1st ODI of a five-match series. He followed it up with a 94 in Visakhapatnam.
He can consolidate the innings in the middle over and hit all round the park if needed. Virat Kohli will also be very well aware about the hitting ability of his Bangalore teammate and would like to see his back as soon as possible.
The West Indian all-rounder will still be recuperating from the 5-run loss against New Zealand but that is what makes him more dangerous.
With his 82-ball 101, Brathwaite almost breached the target set by New Zealand. It was Brathwaite’s late surge with the bat that took his side so close to victory.
Coming in at number six, Brathwaite single-handedly took his side home despite him losing batting partners at regular interval. He ended hitting 5 sixes and 9 fours.
India would like to see less of Sheldon Cottrell’s ‘Army Celebration’, which already has attained cult status in this World Cup.
In that case, the Indian batsmen, especially the opening pair, have to be super careful against the former Cottrell, who has been giving his side regular breakthroughs at the top of the innings.
In their previous match, the left-arm pacer had an excellent first spell where he got rid of the New Zealand’s top three to finish with 4 for 56.
So, India need to deal cautiously with Cottrell’s first spell to make sure their perfect run in the World Cup doesn’t come to an end.
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