3rd ODI Preview: Shikhar Dhawan Under Pressure As India Eye ODI Series Triumph Over West Indies

Shikhar Dhawan's lacklustre knocks on the West Indies tour has put him under scrutiny as India look to clinch the One-Day International (ODI) series against hosts West Indies in the final match in Trinidad on Wednesday. A win will ensure India's dominance over the West Indies in limited-overs, having already whitewashed the T20I champions in the shortest format. However, all eyes will be on opener Shikhar Dhawan, who has managed to score in double figures only once in four matches (T20Is and ODIs) against the West Indies in the ongoing tour. Troubled by in-coming deliveries, Dhawan has twice lost his wicket to pacer Sheldon Cottrell.

Since Dhawan is not part of the Test squad, the Delhi left-hander would like to finish the Caribbean assignment on a high. There is another mini-battle brewing in the Indian batting lineup for the number four slot with Shreyas Iyer putting tremendous pressure on Rishabh Pant.

Pant has enjoyed the backing of the team management, especially skipper Virat Kohli but his repeated failures and Iyer's 68-ball 71-run knock in the second ODI has made things different.

Pant's temperament is a cause of concern as he threw his wicket away on numerous occasions. Any team would prefer a level-headed batsman for that crucial position and by his knock on Sunday, Iyer has made a strong case for himself.

Even legendary Sunil Gavaskar has vouched for Iyer for the number four slot. He wants Pant to drop down to number five as he feels the wicketkeeper batsman is best suited to provide the late impetus.

Elsewhere on the batting front, Kohli would look to carry on with his good batting form after hitting a brilliant 120 off 125 balls in the second ODI.

Kohli anchored India's innings in Iyer's company after openers Dhawan and Rohit Sharma were dismissed cheaply.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the star for India with the ball in the last match with impressive figures of 4 for 31 from eight overs and the pacer would look to carry on his fine form in the coming matches of the tour.

Bhuvneshwar's pace colleague Mohammed Shami (2/39) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/59) also chipped in wickets but the left-arm spinner went for some runs and he would be hoping for better display in terms of economy rate.

Squads:

India: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kedar Jadhav, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Navdeep Saini

West Indies: Jason Holder (c), Chris Gayle, John Campbell, Evin Lewis, Shai Hope, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran, Roston Chase, Fabian Allen, Carlos Brathwaite, Keemo Paul, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas, Kemar Roach

Match starts at 07:00pm IST

(With PTI inputs)

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team West Indies Cricket Team West Indies vs India 2019 Shikhar Dhawan Rohit Sharma Cricket