Besides KL Rahul, another individual who would like to answer his critics with solid performances is Pant.
Fearless Hetmyer guides West Indies to challenging 207/5
The West Indies laid down a significant marker ahead of the ODI series as they comfortably beat England by 21 runs in their sole Twenty20 fixture at Chester-le-Street on Saturday.
The change in format may bring about some strategic shift in the playing eleven for India with captain Virat Kohli expected to open the innings.
India would be aiming to seal the series with yet another resounding performance against a below-par West Indies.
A formidable India will fancy their chances of taking an unassailable 2-0 lead against a weakened West Indies when the two sides lock horns in the third game of the ongoing five-match ODI series, in North Sound, Antigua, on Friday.
Yuvraj Singh's patchy form and fear of inclement weather will be paramount when India take on the West Indies in the second One Day International, in Port of Spain on Sunday.
The 13th edition of the IPL will have added significance as 2020 is also a T20 World Cup year.
With Jason Holder's men just about managing to draw the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan 1-1, there is no doubt that the current Indian team are a few notches ahead in terms of quality.
Chasing a competitive target of 191, Lewis smashed his way to an unbeaten 125 off 62 balls with as many as 12 sixes and six fours as the reigning World T20 champions knocked off the runs in only 18.3 overs.
A second-string West Indies which never looked like challenging India enough in this series, scored a modest 189 for nine, but sluggish batting by the visitors specially Mahendra Singh Dhoni (54 off 114 balls) turned it into a winning total.
While Ajinkya Rahane always scores good runs, he seldom scores them quickly enough. And he doesn't bowl, although he is a handy fielder. Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji assess the India-West Indies ODI series.
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