New Chandigarh, India – Playing in front of a home crowd is always special for a cricketer, even more so when one is privileged to lead the team. Add to this the player being in the form of their life, and the already sky-high expectations will reach stratospheric levels. That is what awaits Shubman Gill when he marches his men into the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium for the third and final ODI against West Indies on Saturday.
The India captain has been instrumental in the Men in Blue sealing the series with match-winning knocks in the first two games. The 27-year-old tore the West Indies bowling attack into smithereens with his 110 in Thiruvananthapuram before smashing a spectacular unbeaten 223 in Guwahati, where he made a mockery of a 406-run target. Gill will now look to celebrate the venue’s inaugural one-dayer in style, aiming to complete a clean sweep in his backyard.
While a 3-0 scoreline would be ideal, the skipper will know that every game his side plays over the next year is not merely about winning, but also about taking crucial preparatory steps towards the 2027 ODI World Cup. In that context, it won’t be surprising if the home team makes some changes to test its bench strength. Mohammed Siraj has had a tough last few months, with sub-par performances in the Sri Lanka Tests and against the Duleep Trophy final. Now that Prasidh Krishna is out due to injury, the management might be tempted to give the Hyderabad pacer a chance to regain form.
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Similarly, Yashasvi Jaiswal is waiting in the wings, and it will be interesting to see who among the top four will make way for the left-hander if he is chosen. Since the middle and lower order haven’t had much to do, India should also consider challenging itself by posting a total and defending it now that the series is in the bag. For West Indies, it has been a case of a job half-done in both matches. While the batters have held their end of the bargain, the bowlers have fallen short. The key to containing a strong line-up is taking wickets up front, but once the pacers fail to deliver, the task gets progressively harder for the spinners. The visitors will hope for a more balanced surface to give themselves a chance to salvage pride.
