India weigh their fast-bowling options in Guwahati with fewer than 20 ODIs to the World Cup

India can seal the West Indies series in Guwahati on Wednesday, but their coaching staff is still working out which fast bowlers will carry them to the 2027 World Cup

India lead the three-match one-day series 1-0 and play the second ODI at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati at 2pm IST, a win giving them the rubber with a game to spare after their eight-wicket victory in Thiruvananthapuram.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference on Tuesday, India's spin bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule framed the series less as a contest to be won than as an audition, with fewer than 20 one-day internationals left before the 2027 World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

"Most of the boxes are ticked. In our squad, there is a lot of experience, there is a lot of youth coming up," Bahutule said of where India stand with a little over a year to go.

A seam attack still being assembled

India began the series without Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya, and the shape of the attack around them remains the open question of the campaign.

"When it comes to the fast bowlers, it will be important to see who would actually be the three fast bowlers, maybe a fourth seamer — an all-rounder," Bahutule said.

Part of the answer is being tested in unusual places. Nitish Kumar Reddy was handed the new ball in the opener, a move Bahutule explained simply: "He is a good bowler and somebody who can bat as well."

The rotation is set to continue in Guwahati. "Ample opportunities will be given to all the bowlers in different phases. So you might see Gurnoor (Brar) bowling with the new ball, things like that," he said of the seamer Gurnoor Brar.

Changes with a purpose

Bahutule was careful to separate experimentation from indecision, saying any reshuffling over the next two matches is deliberate.

"During this series we will come across certain changes, but those changes are purely to understand who can be placed well in the right position," he said.

"These series are a good opportunity for us to also see different types of combinations we can have in the team," he added, noting that India can "definitely look at different bowlers who can bowl in different phases of the game".

Jadeja keeps his place in the queue

Ravindra Jadeja returned to the one-day side in Thiruvananthapuram and went wicketless, conceding 54 runs, but Bahutule said the all-rounder remains part of the World Cup thinking.

He described Jadeja as "a utility player" who "can contribute with the bat as well as with the ball", the argument for a cricketer whose value has never rested on his wicket column alone.

The competition is real. Axar Patel, the other left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder in the frame, is away on Asian Games duty, where India meet Sri Lanka in the semi-final on Thursday.

Kuldeep Yadav carries no such doubts after taking 4-40 in the opener. He "has always been a match winner for India", Bahutule said.

A batting ground India have not visited in three years

Barsapara has staged only two men's ODIs and India have won both, the last of them against Sri Lanka in January 2023.

Both produced hundreds for Virat Kohli — 140 against West Indies in 2018, when Rohit Sharma made 152 not out, and 113 against Sri Lanka four years later.

The surface is expected to stay true again, with short square boundaries and a quick outfield, and evening dew may reward whoever chases.

Rain in the forecast and a reshaped West Indies

The weather is the more immediate threat, with Guwahati forecast to be hot and humid at around 34°C and thunderstorms likely through the afternoon session before conditions clear in the evening.

West Indies arrive without Justin Greaves, ruled out by a calf injury sustained while making his maiden ODI hundred in the opener, though Sherfane Rutherford is expected back after missing that match for personal reasons.

Head coach Floyd Reifer pointed to the conditions his batters are adjusting to. "It is just a matter of getting in strong positions and hitting gaps. In the Caribbean, it is a bit different. Our pitches are slower," he said.

A second win would settle the series and turn the third ODI into one more audition.

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