India vs West Indies 3rd ODI: Rohit Sharma & Co. aim for clean sweep against West Indies

With the IPL auctions slated for the weekend in Bangalore, many top players in both teams are likely to be more focused on that than a game which has little context. While much is known about the Indian players, the match offers one final chance for many West Indies players, about whom the franchises would know little, to draw their attention at the last minute. One of those is certainly seam bowling allrounder Odean Smith. The 25-year-old took the wickets of Rishabh Pant and Virat Kohli and then, batting too low down the order at No. 9, hammered a 20-ball 24 in the second ODI. Meanwhile, in another boost for India, opener Shikhar Dhawan is set to return to add some much-needed firepower to their top order. Even though his spot has been under the scanner — with many pointing out that Dhawan will be 37 by the time of the 2023 ODI World Cup — the opener seems to have the confidence of skipper Rohit Sharma.

As was evident by the move to send Rishabh Pant to open with Rohit in the second ODI, the captain doesn’t prefer KL Rahul, who led the team in the South Africa ODI series, to open the innings. Batting at No. 4, Rahul has appeared at far more ease than in the opening slot, where he tends to be too cautious in the Powerplay overs.

With scores of 34 not out and 64 in this series, Suryakumar Yadav has proved that the decision to drop him from the first two ODIs in South Africa was foolhardy.

With the series in the bag, it will be interesting to see if Rohit and coach Rahul Dravid rest a few seniors and play the likes of pacer Deepak Chahar, Avesh Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi and Ishan Kishan. Chahar’s exclusion from this series, after his 34-ball 54 almost won India the third ODI against the Proteas at Cape Town, has