West Indies lost their last ODI series against Bangladesh at home by 3-0.

WI's poor form

The last few one day matches for West Indies haven't quite gone in a manner in which they would have anticipated. The team got off to a good start in the series against Bangladesh, winning both the test matches.

The team then took the T20 series 2-0 after the first match was rained off. However, their troubles in one day international cricket coupled with some below average pitches in the ODI series meant that the hosts weren't able to open their account.

West Indies' issue with ODI tempo

West Indies have had this problem in ODI cricket for some time now of being unable to find the right tempo. They give even the best teams a run for their money in T20 cricket where they are clear in their mindset and just go after the opposition bowling.

However, in the 50 over format where there is the need to temper your shot making and rotate the strike in the middle overs, West Indies haven't been able to find the right balance.

They have either gone into their shell or tried to be over attacking. The result is that the team has found it hard to bat out the entirety of the 50 overs.

Before Kieron Pollard recently hung his boots from international cricket, he emphasized on the fact that West Indies needed to bat the full 50 overs in ODI cricket. Newly appointed captain Nicholas Pooran reiterated the fact in the ODI series against Bangladesh, that the team wasn't looking at a certain target but wanted to take responsibility and get through the full quota of 50 overs.

After losing 3-0 to Bangladesh, Pooran's frustration at the pitches on offer at the Providence Stadium in Guyana was evident. He said that the pitches were beginning to frustrate the players.

Opposition captain Tamim Iqbal also said that the pitches in Guyana were even worse than those in Mirpur, which is itself notorious for its sluggish nature.

The good thing for the series between West Indies and India is that the matches will not be played in Guyana but in Trinidad which is expected to produce slightly truer surfaces but the batters will still have to work hard to score big runs and scores of over 200 will be quite tricky to chase.

Toss crucial with early morning starts

Another thing which will be in focus with the matches starting early at 9:30 a.m. local time is the toss. There is enough moisture in the atmosphere and in the surface for the bowlers to exploit - both pacers and spinners - in the morning. Hence, the toss will play a crucial role.

The side which bats first will have to see off the first 10-15 overs and that is where West Indies lagged behind in their last series against Bangladesh as they were rolled out for palty totals in all the three matches and Bangladesh did not find it hard to chase.

India have rested most of their regulars for the ODI series with Shikhar Dhawan being named the captain. The last time he captained India was on the tour of Sri Lanka when the big players were in England, preparing for the World Test Championship final.

Jason Holder returns

All big ticket players like captain Rohit Sharma, former captain Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami and KL Rahul have been rested from the ODI series. While most of them will be available for the five match T20 series, Virat Kohli has been rested for the entirety of the tour.

West Indies have called up Jason Holder after resting him for the Bangladesh series. They have dropped Romario Shepherd and Anderson Philip who were unable to do anything extraordinary with the ball in the series against Bangladesh.

Predicted Playing XIs

West Indies - Shai Hope (wk), Brandon King, Shamarh Brooks, Keacy Carty, Nicholas Pooran (c), Rovman Powell, Jason Holder, Keemo Paul, Akeal Hosein, Gudakesh Motie, Alzarri Joseph

India - Shikhar Dhawan (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad/Ishan Kishan (wk), Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson (wk), Ravindra Jadeja (vc), Shardul Thakur, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal

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