Top India cricketers miffed, write to BCCI after flight delay leaves them sleep-deprived before West Indies ODIs: Report

Members of the Indian Test side who are part of the ODI squad in the Caribbean were reportedly left miffed, sleep-deprived and annoyed ahead of the start of the white-ball leg against the West Indies due to a flight delay. After a washout on Day 5 at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad forced the second Test to end in a draw, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and others who were a part of the ODI squad were supposed to travel from Trinidad at 11 pm and reach Barbados, the venue for the first ODI, early morning but according to an Indian Express report, the flight got delayed and took off around 3 am, drawing the ire of the players.

With very little time between matches - the second Test day ended on Monday and the first ODI is slated to place on Thursday - the last thing the players would have wanted was a delayed flight that too post midnight. The report further added that the Indian team management also went on to request BCCI not to keep late-night flights from now on as the players need adequate time to sleep in between matches.

“They had left the hotel by 8:40 pm for the airport and had to wait for a long time at the airport. The team management has requested us to book a morning flight instead of late-night flights as players want some rest post game. The BCCI has agreed to it and is planning to revise the next schedule,” a source in the BCCI was quoted as saying in the report.

The delayed flight and hectic travel schedule also meant the members of the Test squad decided to skip the practice session in Barbados.

The members of the Test squad who are also part of the ODI team are Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Mohammed Siraj, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Axar Patel, and Mukesh Kumar. The others like vice-captain Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, and pacer Umran Malik had already reached Barbados a couple of days earlier for the three-match series.

The first two ODIs are slated to take place in Barbados before the players again travel to Trinidad for the final ODI.

All eyes on Suryakumar, Samson, Kuldeep as India take on West Indies in three-match ODI series

India won the Test series 1-0 but ahead of the Asia Cup and ODI World Cup, these three ODIs will be India's last opportunity to look at players like Sanju Samson, Umran Malik and Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.

With Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma set to open the batting, the chance for Ishan Kishan gets slim, unless the team management wants to look at the attacking left-hander in the middle-order. Samson appears to be the frontrunner to take the gloves while Kishan and Gaikwad stay as the backup openers.

Hardik Pandya is expected to bat at No.6 while Suryakumar Yadav will perhaps get his last chance to translate his T20I form into ODIs before KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer regain fitness.

Chahal, who has fallen behind in the pecking order, will battle with Kuldeep for the frontline spinner's spot as Jadeja looks set to stump Axar for the No. 7 spot.

Considering the slow nature of the surfaces in the Caribbean, one must not rule out the possibility of both Jadeja and Axar playing in the XI while Siraj takes the lead seamer's role.