Cuttack: After clinching a series-levelling win in Visakhapatnam, Team India will look to end the year on a high when they take on the West Indies in the final of the three-match ODI series at the Barabati Stadium on Sunday.
India recovered from a crushing eight-wicket defeat in Chennai to make amends in Vizag by clinching a thumping 107-run victory in the second ODI.
Thus, the hosts would look to carry on that form in Cuttack and register what would be their 10th consecutive bilateral series win over the Windies.
Both the opening batsman, Rohit Sharma and K.L. Rahul, are in top form and they showed how destructive they can be when they shared a 227-run partnership for the first wicket and laid a solid platform for the likes of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant to go full throttle towards the end.
Virat Kohli registered a rare first-ball duck in Vizag. However, that wouldn't be a worry for the hosts as the skipper is more than capable of completely whitewashing any opponent. And given his rare failure, he would himself be eager to get back to his usual best in the decider.
In the bowling department, fast bowler Navdeep Saini, who has replaced injured Deepak Chahar, could be in line to make his ODI debut at Barabati. Left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav also showed signs of returning to his usual best amidst all the run-fest in the second ODI, he became the first Indian bowler to pick two international hat-tricks.
However, one area where the hosts need huge improvement is their fielding, especially their catching. The Indian players have dropped too many catches in the recent T20Is and ODIs and this could prove costly if they make similar errors in the deciding match.