India will have an eye on the Australia tour as they take on West Indies in the two-match Test series starting Thursday.
India will be looking to gain some vital confidence as they face West Indies in a two-Test series starting Thursday. The series will be good chance for the hosts to get their combinations in order before the gruelling assignment in Australia. After the heavy loss in England, a comprehensive beating of the West Indies can only serve as a morale-booster to the Virat Kohli-led side.
Here are the things to look out for in the series against West Indies.
1. The Indian Top Order
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India have perfect opportunity to find a solution to their top-order batting woes before Australia series. Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan, who opened for India in the first match of the recent five-test series in England, have both been dropped.
KL Rahul, the third opener in England, survived the axe after 149 runs in the final test at Oval. He is most likely to face the new ball against West Indies in the company of Prithvi Shaw while the other opening option for the series is Mayank Agarwal.
Agarwal was rewarded for a 2017-18 season in which he scored heavily across formats while the 18-year-old Shaw has already been tipped to have a bright future in national colours.
(Image: PTI)
2. Getting ready for Australia
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The trip to Australia will be the last chance in 2018 for Virat Kohli's men to show they can match their formidable home form with success abroad and show the world why they are the world's top-ranked test side.
India, who last lost a test series at home in late 2012 against England, started the year with a 2-1 loss to South Africa followed by 4-1 thrashing against England.
The West Indies series is the last chance to settle on the pefect team to challenge Australia.
(Image: Reuters)
3. Performance again Windies pace attack
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India have their fair share of problems against quality pace attacks. While Windies’ pace attack is not the legendary stuff of the old day, they still have some good bowlers in the current side.
In the recently concluded home season (where West Indies played 5 Tests – 2 against Bangladesh and 3 against Sri Lanka), the pacers accounted for 84 wickets (out of 96). Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel and Jason Holder have been excellent and have consistently troubled the opposition.
With India reportedly going for bouncy pitches for this series, the batting performance against the Windies pace attack will be something to watch out for.
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4. No. 1 ranking at stake
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India will be looking to ensure they do not lose any points in a bid to maintain their top position.
India lead the table with 115 points but only stand to gain one point even with a 2-0 series win owing to the large difference in rating points with the West Indies.
On the other hand, India can slip to 108 points with an unlikely 2-0 loss and Australia could overtake them if they defeat Pakistan 2-0.
For the West Indies, even a 2-0 series win will at best help them bridge the gap with Pakistan and Sri Lanka but will not pull them up from their present eighth position.
(Image: PTI)
