India v West Indies First ODI Top Bat Tips: Hope and expectation

India v West Indies
Sunday 6 February, 08:00
TV: live on Sky Sports

The last time India hosted West Indies in a one-day international series in 2019 there was smoke coming off the scoreboard. The batters dominated. There were 1,876 runs scored in the three matches, four centuries and ten half-centuries.

It is unlikely that we see anything different this time around. The temptation will be to reckon that it will be the Indian batsmen who start the fires. And why not? Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are ranked at Nos 2 and 3 on the ICC ODI batting list. Their reputations, dare we say it, are as big as their egos.

In terms of top runscorer for India in game one they have little to beat. Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer and Ruturaj Gaikwad are surely out of the series after testing positive for Covid. Kohli and Rohit are rated at 3/1 for top-bat honours by Sportsbook. You can bet them here.

Only Kohli represents anything close to value (and that after a price boost) with a win rate bang on at 25%. Rohit's success rate in this market had dipped significantly.

India top bat wins/matches
Kohli 9/35
Rohit 7/28
Dhawan 6/27
Pant 3/18
Rahul 3/28
Hardik 3/20
Jadeja 2/21
Shaw 1/6

Kohli or Rohit is a debate which rages in India. And it's not necessarily about who will score the most runs, as we know.

Sneaking under the radar, then, is Shai Hope. The West Indies opener is more reliable than either of big noises. Hope cops at a rate of 28.5% over the last 42 matches. He will go off at 7/2. This is an edge of 6.3%. It's not to be sniffed at. You can bet him here.

We are grateful for West Indies in keeping Hope on the downlow. They picked him as an opener in the T20 series against England and, predictably, he struggled. T20 is not his game. He is their best batter in ODI, however.

Hope is rated at No 11 on the ranking list by the ICC. The next best West Indian is Shimron Hetmyer at No 31. And he has not been picked. As you can see from the win rates below he has little to beat.

West Indies top bat wins/matches
Hope 12/42
Lewis 6/22
Pooran 6/34
Powell 2/3
Ambris 2/15
Mayers 1/3
Pollard 1/21
Chase 1/22
Shepherd 1/10

Nic Pooran, boosted to 4/1, is probably his greatest threat but he still has a win rate just shy of 18%. There is no Evin Lewis, either, in the squad.

In that run-glut series Hope scored 222 runs at an average of 11 with one century. That contributed to an extraordinary record in Asia. Hope has had 17 innings on the continent, scoring six centuries and five fifties. He averages 112.

India top bowler wins/matches
Kumar 5 3t/20
Chahal 4 3t/21
Shami 7 4t/21
Bumrah 3 3t/26
Kuldeep 4 4t/27
Krishna ¾
Thakur 2 t/12
Hardik 2t/20
T=ties

West Indies top bowler wins/matches
Joseph 5 5t/24
Cottrell 5 3t/32
Thomas 3 t/16
Holder 2 2t/34
Chase 4t/22
Roach 1/12
Allen 1/13
Shepherd 2/10
Wals 2 2t/12
Hosein 2 4/12