Thiruvananthapuram, September 26 (HS): India will begin its 2026-27 home international season with the first match of the three-game ODI series against the West Indies at the Greenfield International Stadium on Sunday. Much of the attention will be on veteran batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

The series is being viewed as the start of India’s preparations for next year’s ODI World Cup, to be hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. However, India will be without several key players because of injuries and the ongoing Asian Games in Japan.

Rohit Sharma put an end to speculation surrounding his future with a magnificent 138 against England at Lord’s in July. Since the 2025 Champions Trophy, he has scored two centuries in 15 innings. However, he has also had eight innings in which he scored fewer than 30 runs during that period, while his scoring rate in the powerplay has also declined.

Virat Kohli, meanwhile, enters the series with impressive consistency. He is just 51 runs short of becoming only the second batter in history to score 15,000 runs in ODI cricket. Having registered scores of 50 or more in eight of his last 12 ODIs, Kohli’s current form provides a significant boost to India’s batting line-up.

India’s biggest challenge will be to put together a well-balanced playing XI with the players available. Pace-bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya and Harshit Rana are recovering from injuries, while Axar Patel and Washington Sundar are part of India’s Asian Games squad. In these circumstances, Nitish Kumar Reddy appears to have a strong chance of making the playing XI.

Experienced left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is expected to lead the spin department, with left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav likely to accompany him. Jammu and Kashmir’s uncapped all-rounder Auqib Nabi has been included in the Indian squad for the first time. However, with Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Gurnoor Brar among the available options, Nabi may have to wait for his international debut. Naman Dhir is another option in the squad.

The West Indies will take the field under the captaincy of Shai Hope. After suffering narrow series defeats against New Zealand and Sri Lanka, the West Indies will have an opportunity to test their preparations against India. The series is also important for the Caribbean side with next year’s ODI World Cup qualifier in mind.

Attention will also be on 19-year-old wrist-spinner Vitel Loss, who made his ODI debut against New Zealand in July and has taken eight wickets in five matches.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar