West Indies v India: Captaincy carousel continues in ODI series

A packed cricket calendar means India have flown to the Caribbean just four days after completing a full tour of UK.

The men in blue will be competing in a white-ball series against the West Indies, starting with the first of three ODIs in Port of Spain on Friday even as a majority of star players are unavailable.

Fresh from a 2-1 ODI series triumph in England, which followed a similar result in the preceding T20s, the visitors have opted to rest captain Rohit Sharma, key batsman Virat Kohli, wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, all-rounder Hardik Pandya and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah for this assignment.

That means players on the fringe will get a chance to play a full series against a quality team, which is rare for Indian cricketers.

Shikhar Dhawan will lead the side with the likes of batsmen Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Hooda, wicketkeepers Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, and pacers Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna and Arshdeep Singh hoping to audition successfully for the first-choice team.

Rishabh Pant celebrates reaching his century that helped India beat England at Old Trafford in the third ODI on Sunday, July 17, 2022. Getty

With Dhawan leading the 50-over side, India will see a seventh captain taking charge of the team in international cricket. The team's rotation policy, coupled with fitness issues, has meant regular changes to the leadership group. This year, Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah have captained the side.

West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran will be under pressure to turn his team's fortunes around with his team on a six-match losing streak.

"We have players quite capable of batting for long periods but we need to get it together and hold strong,"