Rain expected to affect today’s ODI

The forecast has predicted overnight showers along with heavy rain and possible thundershowers on Sunday, putting in doubt the prospect of a full 50-overs aside contest at Queen’s Park Oval.

Friday’s opener at the venue was cut short after just over 39 overs of the first innings, as heavy rain wrecked the game and forced a no-result. Both players and officials will therefore be keeping an eye on the weather as they look to kickstart a series which holds huge value for West Indies especially.

The hosts are chasing valuable ratings points to enhance their position in the ICC One-Day International rankings, in order to qualify automatically for the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2019.

West Indies are currently ranked ninth on 77 points and need to be in the top eight by the cut off date of September 30. Failing that, the twotime former World champions will enter a 10-team playoff next year with the likes Zimbabwe, Ireland and Afghanistan, in order to secure one of the two remaining World Cup berths.

In India, they face opponents ranked third in the world and who were good enough to reach the final of the ICC Champions Trophy in England before losing to Pakistan last Sunday.

The Caribbean side entered the series as huge underdogs and against the backdrop of a disappointing 1-1 draw in a three-match series against Afghanistan earlier this month but leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo believes the team can still spring a surprise.

“They are a good experienced team, yes we know,” the Guyanese said. “We just have to put our best cricket forward. The team knows and I know that if we play our best cricket, that we can do very well in this tournament and we’re looking forward to it.”

SQUADS: WEST INDIES – Jason Holder (captain), Devendra Bishoo, Jonathan Carter, Roston Chase, Miguel Cummins, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Evin Lewis, Jason Mohammed, Ashley Nurse, Kieran Powell, Rovman Powell, Kesrick Williams.

INDIA – Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Umesh Yadav.