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India v West Indies ODIs: MS Dhoni is best 50-over captain in the world, says Bob Willis

'Unfazed' skipper is finest finisher of an innings, too

Image: Bob reckons MS Dhoni is the world's best one-day skipper

One-day international cricket is India’s bag.

They have concentrated their efforts on the format since they beat West Indies in the final of the 1983 World Cup, and they will be very competitive in this series with the Windies and, I suspect, in next year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

India are third favourites at the moment behind Australia and South Africa and they will definitely be in the mix, though they must be aware that their spinners won’t have the same impact Down Under as they do in the subcontinent.

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I also think they need to nail down which three seam bowlers they are going to play in the World Cup but their pace attack is more capable than it is often given credit for.

India have guys who can bowl quickly and as they play a lot of Twenty20 cricket, their bowlers should be adept at producing defensive deliveries, too.

Staggering

And then, of course, you have the extraordinary character that is MS Dhoni, who, for my mind, is unequalled when it comes to ODI captaincy.

He may look a little laid-back when it comes to captaining in Test cricket – a format India seem to have a death wish in away from home when you look at their lack of fight – but as a captain and wicketkeeper-batsman in ODIs he is staggering.

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He is magnificent when it comes to deciding what a batting order should be when you are chasing a target – he is quite happy to promote himself to six or demote himself to eight.

Image: Michael Bevan was viewed as the best ODI finisher. Not any more, says Bob

Dhoni never gets fazed, seems to have complete control of team affairs, taking precedence over any coach or outside influences and what he says invariably goes.

When the fire is at its hottest, he delivers - and that goes for his batting, too.

Australia’s Michael Bevan was a remarkable ODI finisher back in the 1990s and early 2000s, but in the modern game if you wanted someone to bat for their life trying to chase nine to 11 runs an over for seven or eight overs, you’d go for Dhoni every time – and back him to succeed every time.

VIRAT KOHLI'S ODI RECORD

  • Innings: 130
  • Runs: 5688
  • HS: 183
  • Avge: 51.24
  • SR: 89.63
  • Hundreds: 19
  • Fifties: 30

Dhoni is helped out by a powerhouse middle order, including Suresh Raina, who has been in imperious form in the Champions League T20 with Chennai, but Virat Kohli will want to impress.

He was spectacularly bad in England but you don’t get his stats in the one-day game by accident and you’d imagine he will come good sooner rather than later, which could spell disaster for the West Indies.

Half

The Windies have lost two warm-up games to India A and even though I would expect them to raise their game when they play senior opposition, without Chris Gayle and Sunil Narine they look half a team in lots of ways.

Gayle, who has a back injury at present, will always size up a bowler before he looks to whack him out the park – he can be destructive without being reckless, whereas the rest of West Indies’ batsmen seem to be all stop or all go with no middle ground.

I fear that they are going to struggle to deal with India’s spin, as they much prefer pace on the ball and when they have tried to play big shots against the slow bowlers it doesn’t come off that regularly.

Image: West Indies quick Jerome Taylor is better in Tests, says Willis

There is talent in the seam bowling ranks with Jerome Taylor, Ravi Rampaul and Kemar Roach but I always think those players are more suited to the five-day game because they are all attacking.

That is okay at the start of a one-day innings but it’s not necessarily the way to go in the middle overs, and when you consider West Indies will also be shorn of Narine’s spin – the Trinidadian has withdrawn from this series after having his action reported – I think their bowlers could get the treatment.

West Indies are always exciting to watch and with Clive Lloyd as chairman of selectors, Richie Richardson as coach and their players au fait with Indian conditions from playing in the IPl, hopes are high.

But I make India very strong favourites.

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