Team India will look to continue their good form in the competition and edge closer to the semis when they take on West Indies in a blockbuster ICC World Cup 2019 group stage clash at Old Trafford in Manchester on Thursday. Virat Kohli and his troops have won four matches while one contest was abandoned due to rain. As for Windies, they find themselves at the bottom half of the table, having won one and losing four. Like India, Windies’ one match was washed out as well. ((ICC World Cup 2019: Full Coverage))

Let’s now take a look at some important player battles that could decided the outcome of the match at this iconic venue –

Rohit Sharma vs Kemar Roach

Vice-captain Rohit Sharma has been among the runs and he will look to make a strong comeback after that minor blip against Afghanistan. He is likely to come up against fast-bowler Kemar Roach, who holds a decent record against the India opener. Roach has bowled 202 deliveries to Rohit out of which 121 balls have been dots. Off these deliveries, Rohit has scored 171 runs but has been dismissed by the pacer twice in ODIs.

Virat Kohli vs Jason Holder

The battle of the skippers will surely be one of the top battles to watch out for in this mouth-watering contest. Jason Holder knows if Virat Kohli gets going, India’s odds of winning the match will jump up spectacularly. Holder has bowled 173 deliveries to Kohli in ODIs and has conceded 143 runs. But he has gotten the prized wicket of India captain thrice.

MS Dhoni vs Ashley Nurse

Wicket-keeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the glue that keeps the Indian middle-order together. The job of getting rid of him early will fall to spinner Ashley Nurse as he usually likes to operate in the middle-overs. Dhoni has faced 59 deliveries from Nurse in the past off which, 34 balls were dots. But Dhoni has never been dismissed by the tweaker and he has scored 31 runs off him in ODIs.

Chris Gayle vs Jasprit Bumrah

Team India are very well aware of Chris Gayle’s hitting prowess and would look to send back into the hut early in order to keep the Windies score as low as possible. The onus will be on Jasprit Bumrah to provide this crucial breakthrough early on and peg back the two-time champions right from the word go. The two have never faced each other ODIs but Bumrah has dismissed him once in T20Is. To Gayle’s credit, he has scored 30 runs off 40 Bumrah deliveries in the India Premier League (IPL) and hasn’t been dismissed by the India seamer even once in the cash-rich league.

Shai Hope vs Mohammed Shami

Mohammed Shami showed in the last match against Afghanistan that he is more than capable back-up for Bhuvneshwar Kumar and is likely to retain his place in the side. He will be tasked with jolting Windies early and the fact that he holds a good record against opener Shai Hope works in his favour. Off 40 Shami deliveries, Hope has scored 32 runs but he has been dismissed by the Indian pacer two times.

First Published: Jun 26, 2019 16:43 IST