Men in Blue begin ODI World Cup countdown

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. 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 in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday (September 26, 2026), indeed promises plenty. With the World Cup just a year away, this is definitely the beginning of the road map for India, though the same cannot be said about the visiting team, which first has to qualify for the game’s 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.

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 second 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 in the format. He doesn’t have at his disposal the best possible XI 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.

The teams (from): India: Shubman Gill (Capt.), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, K.L. Rahul (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Auqib Nabi and Naman Dhir.

West Indies: Shai Hope (Capt.), John Campbell, Keacy Carty, Sherfane Rutherford, Justin Greaves, Amir Jangoo, Matthew Forde, Roston Chase, Gudakesh Motie, Alzarri Joseph, Jayden Seales, Shamar Joseph, Jewel Andrew, Vitel Lawes and Keemo Paul.

Match starts at 2 p.m.