India vs West Indies 3rd ODI: Stage set for final showdown at Cuttack

Virat Kohli & Co look to clinch 10th straight ODI series victory against Caribbeans in third and final clash at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Sunday.

Virat Kohli and his ‘notebook’ celebration, aimed at Kesrick Williams, set the tone in the first T20I for this West Indies tour. When Williams got Kohli in the second T20I, he replied by putting a finger to his lips.

India's Shardul Thakur, second right, and teammates walk together to celebrate the dismissal of West Indies' Even Lewis during the second one day international cricket match between India and West Indies in Visakhapatnam, India, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019. (AP)

In Visakhapatnam, during the second One-day International (ODI), Kieron Pollard left no one in doubt how much Kohli’s golden duck meant to him and the India captain reciprocated in kind when his opposite number too fell first ball.

Pointing out that some of them have eaten at the same Chinese restaurant was West Indies coach Phil Simmons’ way of saying that in somewhat warm conditions here, things are, well, warm between the teams.

“We are staying in the same hotel and there have been no punch-ups,” said the former West Indies all-rounder here on Saturday.

The one-dayers tied 1-1 means West Indies have as much chance of winning a series against India since 2006—and the first in India since 2002-03—as the hosts have of wrapping up their 10th successive ODI series against the Caribbeans. But rebuilding since the winds of change blew through Cricket West Indies—after Ricky Skerritt called time on Dave Cameron’s six-year reign as president last March—Simmons said they are looking at the big picture.

“The game tomorrow (Sunday) does not influence the direction in which we are going. I think all the guys know we want to play our best tomorrow and even though we play our best, we might not win. We will continue to be in the direction we are going,” said Simmons, 56.

Before the ODI series began, Pollard had spoken about the importance of not looking at results in the short-run.

“We came with a clear mission and a clear plan of how we want to approach 50-over cricket. There is a process we are going through,” he had said.

Included in the process is learning from India, the world’s second ranked ODI team seven slots above the visitors.

“They are definitely the best in their home conditions and for us to be giving them a run is great for us to see,” Simmons said.

West Indies lost the T20I series 2-1 but the team has punched above its weight. Supplementing smart batting has been fast bowlers developing variations while operating at reduced pace.

“At one point we had four fast bowlers, 10 of them who would just come out on any pitch and blast out batsmen. But pitches are not the same as they used to be. Each bowler has got to learn how he is going to bowl on different wickets. (Inputs) have come from all of us.

“It is about watching what’s happening and trying to learn properly that these are the things I can do and which one to use in the game, the bowler decides,” said Simmons.

One of the bowlers, Sheldon Cottrell, had, according to Simmons, a life-changing experience when Kings XI Punjab saluted his abilities by buying him for Rs 8.5 crore in Thursday’s IPL auction in Kolkata.

“It would be for anyone getting a million dollars to play cricket,” he said. “(But) I don’t think it is career changing because he (Cottrell) knows that he is a premier fast bowler right now in West Indies white ball cricket.”

In battle mode

India’s approach to Sunday’s game will be different. “Even the last game was a do-or-die for us. We will play with a similar mindset. When the stakes are high, I feel all the players lift up their socks, put up their hands. Somebody or other performs to give the team a platform from where we can go on to win the match,” said Shreyas Iyer.

Though the practice session was optional for Saturday, everyone showed up barring Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami and Yuzvendra Chahal. Iyer and Mayank Agarwal had long stints at nets as did Kohli whose returns from here have been modest. Kohli struck the ball sweetly and looked comfortable hitting square and in front of the wicket. He sheathed his bat in his big, black bag that stood upright but was at another net for throwdowns soon after.

“I don’t know why you are asking this question. We are talking about a legend who has scored so many runs,” said Iyer replying to whether Kohli’s lean run in four white ball internationals in Cuttack—his highest score is 22—and scores of 4 and 0 in the first two ODIs have affected the team.

Simmons said a par score would be between 300 and 320.

“I think it’s (the wicket) going to be really fast in a second innings and the dew plays a massive role,” said Iyer.

The one area teams have faltered is catching and Iyer said India had catching practice with wet balls to deal with the dew.

“I think it is about more practice,” Simmons said. “We can make excuses about dropping catches but it is about how hard you work. You are going to drop one now and then, but more than one, it is just bad catching.”