The Indian cricket team was dealt a major blow on Monday with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni being ruled out of the remainder of the ongoing tri-nation ODI series due to a hamstring injury, prompting the BCCI to appoint Virat Kohli as the stand-in skipper.
Ambati Rayudu will be Dhoni’s replacement.
“Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been ruled out of the ongoing tri-series in the West Indies, due to a hamstring injury. The selectors have picked Ambati Rayudu as his replacement,” BCCI said in a statement.
“Virat Kohli will lead India in the remainder of the tri-series,” the statement added.
Dhoni did not keep wickets against the West Indies during the team’s tri-nation series opener in Jamaica on Sunday after sustaining a hamstring injury while batting. He handed over wicketkeeping duties to Dinesh Karthik. Dhoni was to be examined by the doctors. BCCI sources had earlied said Dhoni was “not feeling good”.
In Dhoni’s absence, Kohli led the team and India lost by nine wickets at Sabina Park here.
Chasing a modest target of 230, West Indies struggled despite a sparkling 97 by Johnson Charles but finally managed to register their second win in the tournament with 14 balls to spare.
With nine points from two matches, West Indies are in with a bright chance of making it to the finals. It was sweet revenge for the hosts, who had lost to India in the course of their unbeaten Champions Trophy triumph.
Kemar Roach (14 not out) got himself a perfect birthday present as he guided West Indies by keeping cool lower down the order. He flicked Umesh Yadav (3/43) towards square leg to bring up the victory in a match where fortune swung like a pendulum.
The foundation of the victory was laid by opener Charles who faced 100 balls hitting eight boundaries and four huge sixes. He added 116 runs for the fourth wicket with Darren Bravo (55) and the victory didn’t look out of sight.
The Indian bowlers made a fantastic comeback as they got some quick breakthroughs before Roach finally sealed it for the hosts. At the start of the chase, West Indies were in dire straits as they lost both Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels within the first five overs and were precariously placed at 26 for three.
Yadav removed the opposition’s best batsman Gayle (11) and followed it up with the wicket of Devon Smith (0) while Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled Samuels (1) to reduce West Indies to 26 for three.
Charles successfully hit through the line whenever it was slotted in his zone. He found an able ally in Bravo as the duo resurrected the innings. The 50 run partnership came off 70 balls.
The duo batted sensibly as the 100 came up in the 22nd over and Charles completed a well-deserved half-century off 60 balls. The 100 runs for the fourth wicket partnership came off 131 balls.
With the pitch easing out a bit compared to first half, the West Indian pair didn’t have any problems in negotiating the Indian bowlers. Spin twins Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin weren’t as effective as one expected them to be. A desperate Virat Kohli, leading the side in regular skipper MS Dhoni’s absence, brought back Yadav for his second spell but Charles greeted him with one of the biggest six of the match.
Finally, after a 116-run partnership, Bravo was gone for 55 trying to dispatch a half-tracker from Ashwin but only managing to find Shikhar Dhawan at short mid-wicket which gave India something to make a match out of.
Brief Scores
India: 229/7 in 50 overs (R Sharma 60, S Raina 44; K Roach 2/41, D Sammy 2/41) lost to West Indies: 230/9 in 47.4 overs (J Charles 97, D Bravo 55, U Yadav 3/43) by 1 wicket.