By Slogger
First publised on 2022-02-12 06:37:07
India beat the West Indies comprehensively by 96 runs in the third and final ODI of the current series to complete a first-ever series whitewash against them. The Indian team, despite top order failures, was much superior in all departments of the game and the way they defended a small total in the second match was brilliant. The West Indians were pegged back as most of the players, especially Keiron Pollard (he was dropped for the last two games), looked jaded. Their body language throughout the series was not positive and they suffered as a result.
As has been happening for the last few series, it was the bowlers who always put India in commanding positions and then delivered to take them to victory. The West Indies batters were never allowed to settle down in any of the three matches. With the regular bowlers rested, India's bench strength was on full display as Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar rose to the occasion. Krishna was outstanding as he was named player of the match in two matches. For India, the opening combination is proving to be a problem and so is the lean patch Virat Kohli is going through.
For the Windies, nothing clicked. Whether batting first, as in the first game, or chasing to win the match, their batters could not get the measure of Indian bowlers. Each time, they got out below 200 and were not competitive at all. They will not carry any positives from this series and will approach the T20 series in a negative frame of mind. They have to rework their strategy if they have any hope of winning even one match in the upcoming T20 series.