Boosted by the return of Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, India will look to re-establish their supremacy over the West Indies in the third ODI match. After an easy 8-wicket win in the series opener in Guwahati, India were denied an easy 2-0 lead in the five-match series as the tourists managed to salvage a morale-boosting tie in the second match at Visakhapatnam.
But the return of Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah will definitely add a lot of meat to the Indian bowling that has been clobbered for more than 320 runs on both occasions.
It will also be interesting to see whether skipper Virat Kohli and the team management would still want to pursue with Umesh Yadav, especially after the pacer successively failed to convert his success in Tests to limited overs cricket.
With just 16 ODIs to go for the ICC 2019 World Cup in England and Wales, India will also be hoping to get their middle order conundrum solved, especially the No.5, 6 and 7 spots.
While Ambati Rayudu justified his skipper's backing for the No.4 slot with a fluent 73 in the second match, former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was promoted to No.5 failed to score briskly and just looked a shadow of his former self.
All You Need To Know About The Match:
Date: October 27 (Saturday)
Time: 1:30 PM IST
Venue: Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune
Tv Guide: Star Sports Network
Live Streaming: Hotstar
Likely XIs
India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni, Manish Pandey, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal.
Pakistan: Kieran Powell, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Marlon Samuels, Rovman Powell, Jason Holder, Ashley Nurse, Devendra Bishoo, Kemar Roach, Oshane Thomas.
Squads:
India: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Rishabh Pant (wk), MS Dhoni (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed, Umesh Yadav, Lokesh Rahul, Manish Pandey.
West Indies: Jason Holder (c), Fabian Allen, Sunil Ambris, Devendra Bishoo, Chanderpaul Hemraj, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope (wk), Alzarri Joseph, Evin Lewis, Ashley Nurse, Keemo Paul, Rovman Powell, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels, Oshane Thomas.
(With Agency inputs)
