IND vs WI | 1st ODI | Who could be India's game changer?

After a successful ODI series in England, the Men in Blue have now landed in the Caribbean islands. Today on the 22nd of July the two teams will face off against each other in the first ODI at Queens Park Oval, Port of Spain. 

India will be fielding a new-look side under the leadership of Shikhar Dhawan. Here we try and find the players who will play a key role for India in the match. 

Before going ahead let us look at the records at the venue in the most recent matches. Coincidentally India have been a contesting team at the venue in the last three completed matches and have won all three games.

In order to find out the Indian batter who could impact the game, first, let us look at how batters have fared at the venue in recent times.

Now let us take a look at how spinners and pacers have performed at the venue in recent matches.

So, the records of the recent matches tell us that the ground favors right-hand batters and pace bowlers. So there are high chances that a right-hand batter who is a good player of pace bowling will score more runs on the wicket.

Indian Batter to Watch out for:

Shreyas Iyer: Having said that a batter good against pace bowling will do good at the venue, predicting Shreyas Iyer to be the most impactful batter for India might seem odd, given his evident weakness against short balling. But last time India visited West Indies, Shreyas Iyer was brilliant, to say the least for his team. Let us look at his records at the venue. 

Besides, Shreyas’ general record against West Indies is also pretty good. 

The records speak completely in favor of Shreyas. Also, the fact that barring Jason Holder there is no such bowler in the current West Indian bowling lineup who could trouble him with short bowling, there are high chances that Shreyas Iyer will regain his ODI form today in the match and play a key role in India’s batting performance.

Indian bowler to watch out for

Axar Patel: The pitch at Queens Park Oval has historically been favorable for the pacers if the strike rate is considered. This points to the fact that the pitch is a bit skiddy. 

But in the recently concluded ODI series against Bangladesh, the West Indians lost about 10 wickets against the left-arm spinners. Keeping in mind the nature of the pitch and the recent weakness of the West Indian batters, Axar Patel will surely play a significant role in India’s bowling performance today.

The fact that Axar is a skiddy spinner will help him on the pitch. Therefore he might be the bowler who can cause the big difference between the two teams.