 India will play West Indies in the deciding one day international at Gros
Islet in St. Lucia on Sunday. India currently leads the series 2-1 and a win here
will not only win them the series but will also be a sweet revenge for them for
their loss in the ICC World T20 and the previous series that they had lost in
the Caribbean two years back.
As was seen in the third game, the weather will play its part in St. Lucia
for this game too, and both teams will be looking to win the toss and field
first. This will have two benefits, for one, the pitch may something in offer
for the quick bowlers if the ball is pitched up, but more importantly, the Duckworth-Lewis
system does end up favouring teams which know what the target is.
This is, Indian captain M.S.Dhoni should have an upper hand, after having won
three successive tosses in the series so far!
Talking from the batting point of view, Dhoni will have no option but to not
make any changes to the team, given that the previous was a rain-afflicted encounter
and did not test the Indian batsmen to totality. Besides, the openers did acquit
themselves pretty well, making it an easy decision for Dhoni.
Having said, India will hope that their bowling clicks much better than what
happened in the previous game; especially at the top by Ishant Sharma
and R.P.Singh. India may even want to rethink their strategy of bowling too
many overs by the spinners, given the moist outfield in the region. This is
why, Abhishek Nayar may be allowed to bowl some overs, unlike the third
ODI where he was afforded none.
West Indies will continue to look at the top order to provide them with
the starts that they have been so used to in this series. While Gayle himself
may have earned himself a reputation of playing cameos, it will be the duo of
Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shiv Chanderpaul whose experience will come in handy.
The bowling of Jerome Taylor is a definite worry, and had it not been
for the injury to Fidel Edwards, he could well have been rested. He may still
be rested, but the problem with West Indies is that they haven't got a suitable
replacement, with Lionel Baker's lack of experience coming in way for this crucial
final game. This means that Taylor will continue to play and Gayle will hope
that he bowls a more restrictive line.
At the other end, Ravi Rampaul has done enough to merit another go for
this game, while Suliemann Benn hasn't leaked enough runs that spinners
are famous for.
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