Guwahati, Sep 29 (IANS) West Indies all-rounder Justin Greaves has been ruled out of the second ODI against India after sustaining a calf injury during his century in the series opener in Thiruvananthapuram, Cricket West Indies (CWI) confirmed on Tuesday.
Greaves picked up the injury while scoring a 101 off 108 balls in the opening ODI, where the West Indies posted 296 before India chased down the target with four wickets in hand.
CWI said in a squad update, “Justin Greaves has been ruled out of the second game of the ODI series against India after sustaining a calf injury. Greaves picked up the injury during his innings in the opening match of the series.”
The injury is a blow to the visitors after Greaves played an important role with the bat in the first ODI; he and John Campbell had given West Indies a brilliant start by reaching 135/0 in 19 overs and thus put India under pressure. Campbell scored 62 off 60 balls before India’s bowlers were able to regain control.
A special Virat Kohli show led the Indian team to chase down 297 against the Windies in Thiruvananthapuram, while captain Shubman Gill also hit a marvellous ton. Kuldeep Yadav was the star with the ball as he made crucial strikes in his 4-40 spell to play a key role in the win.
The Men in Blue return to Guwahati with happy memories. They have won both of their ODIs at the venue, and their talismans Kohli and Rohit Sharma have smashed centuries. Kohli hit tons in both of those games, while Rohit also smashed one century and a half-century in one of those.
It is the venue where all four innings have seen scores in excess of 300, as bowlers from both teams will be under the pump once again after being meted out a punishing treatment in the opener at the Greenfield International Stadium.
Kohli put the Windies bowlers to the sword with his unbeaten 139 from 88 balls, while Gill starred with a 108-ball 110. Rohit had also looked positive with his 32 from 35 deliveries.
The Windies batters also made the Indian bowlers toil as John Campbell made 62 from 60 balls while opening the innings and Justin Greaves scored 101 from 108 deliveries. The visitors were firing on all cylinders and were 135/0 after 19 overs before the Men in Blue applied the brakes, with Kuldeep leading the charge with a stellar bowling display.
Nitish Kumar Reddy took a beating as he gave 1-45, while debutant Naman Dhir conceded 0-33 in his five. Gurnoor Brar remained wicketless in his 10 overs for 60 runs, but Kuldeep was the one who pulled things back.
It remains to be seen whether the Indian management will make changes to the bowling attack, as Mohammed Siraj and Auqib Nabi were the bowlers to be benched for the previous game.
There can be a case for giving game time to Dhruv Jurel, while there can be a temptation to play Yashasvi Jaiswal too, as India look to bag the series.
–IANS
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