Both India and West Indies have made one change each to their team for the second ODI in Ahmedabad. While the visitors will miss the services of their skipper Kieron Pollard, the Men in Blue have dropped young opener Ishan Kishan.Kishan played the first ODI as an emergency replacement for Shikhar Dhawan, who missed out after testing positive for COVID-19. Reserve opener Ruturaj Gaikwad also tested positive, while both KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal (also added to the squad recently) were also unavailable for selection for the match.
Nothing is impossible when you believe. And so was the story of last night when MI were reduced to 78/4 in the 12th over in pursuit of a massive 202-run target.
Last night’s game wasn’t for the weak hearted. Thanks to a game-changing partnership between Ishan Kishan and Kieron Pollard, we witnessed a humdinger at the Dubai International Stadium under lights.
Ishan had got an opportunity to play his first game of the tournament. The left-handed batsman displayed great character as he started his innings with a boundary. There had also been a lot of talk regarding Pollard who came off from a fantastic CPL. With the required rate soaring above 15 runs an over, there couldn't have been a better person than him at the crease.
In February 2021, Kishan was named in India's Twenty20 International (T20I) squad for their series against England.[26] It was his maiden international call-up to the India cricket team.[27] He made his T20I debut for India on 14 March 2021, against England, scoring 56 off 32 before getting out lbw to Adil Rashid.[4] India went on to win the game by seven wickets with Kishan bring named as the man of the match.[28]
In June 2021, he was named in India's One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) squads for their series against Sri Lanka.[29] He made his ODI debut on 18 July 2021, for India against Sri Lanka, scoring 59 off 42 balls.[30] In September 2021, Kishan was named in India's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.[31]
Rahul has now returned to the team at Kishan's expense. The vice-captain will likely open the innings alongside skipper Rohit Sharma.It also suggests that India is looking at Rahul as a top-order option despite his success in the middle order over the last few years. Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant could thus be the team's long-term middle-order options.In the Caribbean camp, wicketkeeper-batter Nicholas Pooran has taken on captaincy duties from Pollard. During the toss, he revealed that Pollard is down with a "niggle" and has been replaced by bowling all-rounder Odean Smith.Smith has featured in three ODIs and eight T20Is for the West Indies so far. The lower-order batter has scored 84 runs in ODIs at a strike rate of 227.03 while also picking up three wickets in the 50-over format at an average of 19.0 and an economy rate of 5.61.
This will be Pooran's first match as West Indies' ODI captain, becoming the 30th leader in the format for the country. He has previously captained in eight T20Is, with a success rate of 50 percent.
Pooran won the toss on his ODI captaincy debut and asked Rohit Sharma-led India to bat first in Ahmedabad.The hosts are 1-0 up in the three-match series and will be looking to post a big total today.
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