First India, West Indies ODI today

CHENNAI: It is common knowledge that Chennai gets a lot of rain in December. Yet, here we are trying to squeeze in an ODI, when two more T20Is would’ve brought in more context with the World Cup just around the corner. Ironical as it may be, we could well have a curtailed game veering towards the T20s if the weather, which forced India to call off their optional nets on Friday and West Indies on Saturday, continues to remain fickle.

India have not played ODIs for a while. Their last 50-over series came in the Caribbean, well remembered for that audacious Virat Kohli shot, where he opened up the off-side and carved a short of length delivery on the up for six over extra cover while being off balance. It even had Sir Viv Richards admiring the shot in awe. If you don’t remember the scoreline of the series, though, or any other detail, well, you would be forgiven.

West Indies have the benefit of having played a good amount of white-ball cricket on tour, even before the T20I series. They whitewashed Afghanistan 3-0 in the ODI series in Lucknow to begin Kieron Pollard’s captaincy era on a promising note. So far, West Indies have made all the right noises, both in terms of their squad selection as well as administrative intent to become a formidable force once again.