India’s Playing XI for first ODI: Sanju Samson or Ishan Kishan, who will be India’s wicketkeeper in absence of KL Rahul?

Sanju Samson has better numbers batting at No.5 in ODIs.

India’s Playing XI for first ODI: Sanju Samson or Ishan Kishan, who will be India’s wicketkeeper in absence of KL Rahul?

Ishan Kishan or Sanju Samson, who will get a place in India's playing XI for first ODI? (Image via News18, Getty Images)

Rohit Sharma-led India are all set to take on the West Indies in a three-match ODI series starting on 27 July. The first of the three ODIs is scheduled to be played at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. India will start as favorites considering how West Indies performed in the recently concluded ODI World Cup Qualifiers. 

The two-time champions failed to make it through and will now watch the quadrennial event as spectators. Nevertheless, coming back to this ODI series, West Indies will look to improve while India will have nothing but World Cup preparation in mind. 

YouTube video

Although India is missing a few of its key players, Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid will want their World Cup-bound players to get as much game time as possible. Young guns will have a chance to impress the captain and coach and make a case for themselves for the showpiece event. 

The likes of Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Mukesh Kumar will have a chance to shine. But who stands a chance to be a regular feature in the playing XI?

Also Read: Three milestones Virat Kohli can achieve during India vs West Indies ODI series

Who all can feature in India’s Playing XI for first ODI?

team india
Team India (image via BCCI)

While Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid won’t have a tough time selecting the top-order batters, it will be stiff competition among Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, and Sanju Samson to occupy the two slots in the middle order. 

Suryakumar Yadav looks like the first choice for the No.5 batting position with Ishan Kishan coming in at No.4. Although the wicketkeeper batter’s preferred batting position is either No.1 or No.2, Kishan has batted in the No.4 position in 6 matches, scoring 106 runs at an average of 21.20. 

On the other hand, Sanju Samson has never batted at No.4 in ODIs. Samson has batted at No.3, No.5, and No.6. So, it can be said that Samson will be competing with Suryakumar Yadav instead of Ishan Kishan. Between Yadav and Samson, the latter is miles ahead but Surya seems to have the team management’s backing. 

India’s Playing XI for first ODI (Predicted): Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel/Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Umran Malik, Mohammed Siraj.

In case you missed!