India begins road map to 2027 ODI World Cup against West Indies

Shubman Gill won’t have the best possible eleven at his disposal because of the ongoing Asian Games and injury concerns. | Photo Credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN

They were gone. All those thousands of tickets. Gone in a matter of hours.

A young cricket fan who lives near the Greenfield Stadium, still blames himself for not logging in a bit earlier on the day ticket sales opened, so he could have bought one. He tried the black market, too, though it would have cost him three times the actual price, but no ticket was available.

So much for all those talks about the meaninglessness of bilateral ODI series. The 50-over format has its own charms. Granted, it is no Test match. Nothing is. But it offers an awful lot more than T20 cricket.

The three-match ODI series between India and the West Indies, which begins here on Sunday, indeed offers plenty. With the World Cup just a year away, this is the beginning of the road map for India definitely, though the same cannot be said about the visiting team, which, first has to qualify for the game’s biggest showpiece (and this was the team that won the first two editions and lost to India in the final of the third).

Looking ahead – and preparing for – the World Cup is fine. But, if you are someone who believes that art is for art’s sake, this is one series you wouldn’t want to miss: you get to watch two of the modern masters, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

Also read | As ODI World Cup approaches, the Hardik Pandya problem India hopes Nitish Kumar Reddy can solve

This is, of course, the only format they play for India. And they are not going to be around forever. Kohli is 37. Rohit is 39. You hardly would have thought of that when you watched them play in England just a couple of months ago.

This series could also see both reaching more milestones: Kohli needs only 59 more to become the first man to score 15,000 ODI runs after Sachin Tendulkar, while Rohit requires 105 to touch 12,000.

The other top-order batter, skipper Shubman Gill, has been in sublime form, and is the world’s No. 1 batter in the format. He doesn’t have at his disposal the best possible eleven because of the ongoing Asian Games and injury concerns, but that opens opportunities for players like Ruturaj Gaikwad, Auqib Nabi and Naman Dhir.

The West Indians will be desperate for a good show in a country where they haven’t won an ODI series since 2002. Shai Hope and his men may not find it easy against the class, experience and skills of India.

Published on Sep 26, 2026

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