India vs West Indies 2026 | 2nd ODI | Preview and Predictions
Captain Shubman Gill and India’s veteran talisman Virat Kohli powered India to a dominant win in the opening ODI and Gill’s boys will be looking to wrap up the series in Guwahati as India look to pick up a crucial series win at home.
Ahead of the second ODI between India and West Indies, here’s our match preview and predictions.
IND v WI 2026 | 2nd ODI | 14:00 IST, September 30, 2026
The hosts, India went in with a relatively inexperienced pace attack as Mohammed Siraj didn’t get a game which meant Prasidh Krishna was the lead pacer along with Gurnoor Brar and Nitish Kumar Reddy. Already without Jasprit Bumrah and with no Siraj, the pace attack lacked teeth as Krishna, Reddy and Brar weren’t able to trouble the Windies batters with the new ball. West Indies stormed to 135/0 inside 20 overs before it was the Indian spinners who brought the hosts back into the game. The duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav put a check on the runs in the middle and with Naman Dhir playing his first ODI, the Mumbai Indians all-rounder provided Gill with an extra bowling option and kept things tight in the middle overs. It was Yadav who ended up turning things in India’s favour as the left-arm spinner’s 4/40 helped India restrict West Indies to under 300, which looked like an easy target for the visitors given the way they started.
Chasing a score of 296, the Indian openers gave the hosts the perfect start as a cautious Gill and Rohit Sharma made the most of early chances to put up 74 in 12 overs. Sharma fell but Gill carried on and along with Virat Kohli, the duo put up a stunning 151 partnership that more or less wrapped up the game for India. Twin centuries from Gill and Kohli saw India ease to an 8-wicket. With the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan missing from the middle order, Gill, Kohli will need to shoulder more responsibility and they have started in the right way. Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has been given game time as Iyer is leading the T20 team at the Asian Games, got to spend some time in the middle and will hope for more runs in the middle order as well.
The visitors were put into bat by Gill and started brilliantly against the Indian seamers as John Campbell and Justin Greaves put West Indies in a commanding position at 135/0 in 19 overs. Campbell was unable to convert his half century to a big score but Greaves scored a brilliant 101 that had the Windies set for a big target on a batting friendly wicket. Once the openers departed, the middle order couldn’t keep up the pressure and barring a fighting 58* from Amir Jangoo, West Indies lost the plot at a collapse triggered by Kuldeep Yadav saw them make a below par 295.
Against a batting unit like India’s in the subcontinent, it was always going to be an uphill task for the West Indian bowlers and the visitors made life harder for themselves after dropping Shubman Gill on 11. Gill went on to make them pay dearly as the West Indian bowlers didn’t provide much of a threat to Gill and Kohli, who took the game away from the visitors. Jayden Seales ended up as the only positive bowling point for West Indies in the opening game and captain Shai Hope will expect his bowlers to step up in the remaining games.
The Guwahati pitch is another one which the batters will enjoy as a batting friendly wicket is set to welcome the two teams. There will be some assistance for the quicks but we expect another high-scoring game with the Indian team looking too strong to look past in this series deciding game.
Fantasy XI: Shubman Gill (c), John Campbell, Shai Hope, Virat Kohli (vc), KL Rahul (wk), Roston Chase, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Jayden Seales, Gudakesh Motie
Venue: Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati
Winners Prediction: India
