India will look to get more game time, and hopefully a full match, when they face off against the West Indies in the second ODI at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad on Sunday.
Virat Kohli and his batting unit's attempt at a big score was stopped short a little after 39 overs, with rain coming down and leading to the first match being abandoned.
That was a pity as far as the India team were concerned, because, after all the negative headlines leading into this series, what they desperately needed was for the cricket to come back into focus again.
Kohli and his under-pressure team will hope that is possible on Sunday, when they play the West Indies at the same venue.
The top two of the India batting order got a decent hit out in the middle on Friday, with both Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane hitting half-centuries.
Rahane's wasn't as fluent as he would have liked, but that was to be expected considering he hasn't played a competitive game since the IPL final. The right-hander was on the bench for the entire Champions Trophy.
What that hit out in the middle would have done, though, is give Rahane more confidence, which he needs in this format of the game. More often than not, the Mumbaikar has struggled in coloured clothes when representing India, so Rahane, who has been guaranteed all five matches in the opening slot by Kohli, will want to make most of this opportunity and establish himself in India's limited-overs unit.
The India bowlers would have been disappointed to have not gotten a crack at the West Indies batsmen, especially since they would have been keen to get back some pride after flopping when it mattered most – in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 against Pakistan.
It would have been interesting to see how R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja went against this inexperienced West Indies batting lineup, after they were carved apart by Pakistan in the CT final.
The spinners, particularly Ashwin, is under pressure to perform with the white ball. The off-spinner has been below his best for a while now in limited-overs cricket, so this series will be used to try and find his groove again in the shorter formats.
India vs West Indies 2nd ODI schedule:
Date: Sunday, June 25.
Venue: Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain.
Time: 9am local time, 6.30pm IST.
TV listings: India: Sony Six, Ten 3, Ten 1 HD, Sony Six HD. UK: Sky Sports 3. USA: Willow TV. South Africa: SuperSport Seven.
