India whitewashes West Indies 3-0 at Ahmedabad
By Kersi Meher-Homji
India triumphed in the third One Day International (ODI) against the West Indies at Ahmedabad by 96 runs to win the series 3-0. A real whitewash.
Ahmedabad appears to be India’s happy hunting ground as they had won the first ODI by six wickets and the second ODI by 44 runs earlier this month.
In the third ODI, India lost three wickets for only 42 runs. This included the scalps of skipper Rohit Sharma for 13, Shikhar Dhawan for 10 and Virat Kohli for a duck. They were rescued by youngster Shreyas Iyer (80 runs) and the dynamic Rishabh Pant (56) who put on 122 runs for the fourth wicket.
Then Washington Sundar and Deepak Chahar hit fours and sixes galore and India totaled 265 in the allotted 50 overs. Windies fast bowler Jason Holder took 4 for 34.
With Indian quickies Mohammad Siraj and Prasidh Krishna capturing three wickets each, the West Indians were bowled out for 169 runs, losing the Test by 96 runs and the series 0-3.
It appeared that the Windies would be shot out for under 100 but for their number nine batsman Odean Smith slamming three fours and three sixes in his adventurous 36.
Shreyas Iyer was adjudged Player of the Match and Prasidh Krishna Player of the Series. Besides taking 3 for 27 in this match Krishna had grabbed 4 for 12 in the previous ODI.
Krishna said at the presentation, “Now that I’ve been practicing and played a few Vijay Hazare matches I have a few overs in me and am in rhythm. Anything going to the wicket-keeper or the slips, I like that kind of wickets. Today both wickets I got, it was quite nice to see the ball got the carry and good to have people behind who won’t miss out when you create an opportunity.
“When you are running in and see the ball flying to the ’keeper, it’s what any fast bowler wants. The kind of guys we have in the team, everybody is good and we’ve been learning from each other. Anybody who turns up can do very well – that’s the team effort. If we look at the three games, we batted quite well even though the wicket had something.”
Although 3-0 looks a convincing margin of victory, India has batting problems. The top order is in disarray. India had lost 3 for 43 in the second ODI and 3 for 42 in the third. The batting form of Virat Kohli is a big worry. In the three ODIs he scored 8, 18 and 0; a total of 26 runs at a disastrously poor average of 8.66.
Catching by a few fielders also left a lot to be desired.
Hope India sorts out these problems before the three Twenty20 Internationals start at Kolkata on Thursday the 17th.
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