India did pretty well without their leading fast bowler Mohammad Shami in the lineup against the UAE, but the paceman is expected to be fit and ready for the big ICC Cricket World Cup clash against the West Indies in Perth on Friday.
Shami was exceptional in the first two matches against Pakistan and South Africa, bowling tight lines and lengths in the first ten overs, before doing the business when called upon by MS Dhoni later in the innings.
The fast bowler was not risked for the match against the UAE with a knee strain, with the team stressing the injury was not serious. That did look to be the case, with Shami training comfortably enough over the past few days, suggesting he should be fit for the match against the West Indies.
The India physios will, of course, monitor Shami overnight before taking a final call, as Dhoni will not want to take a risk on the bowler if there is even the slightest of chance of the niggle being aggravated.
However, with a win over the West Indies as good as sealing India's place in the quarterfinals, Dhoni will also be keen to get his best possible XI out.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar will hope for another opportunity in this World Cup, after making his debut in the tournament against UAE. The swing bowler, while doing decently enough, needs a few more matches to get fully up to speed, but with the other bowlers doing a pretty good job, it does make that particular scenario difficult.
Ideally, India would like to assure themselves of a place in the quarterfinals with victory over the West Indies and then rest some of their key players for the matches against Ireland and Zimbabwe, both of which will be played in New Zealand, where the likes of Bhuvneshwar and Stuart Binny might be able to make the ball talk a little more.
There are no injury worries with the batting, even if the star man Virat Kohli found himself embroiled in a tiff with a journalist, which has taken plenty of headlines.
The team will hope Kohli is in the right frame of mind to take on the West Indies, because India's batting has been supreme at this World Cup, and he, obviously, is a big part of that.
For the West Indies, there aren't too many worries on the injury front, and the team from the Caribbean will be keen for a better show after their mauling at the hands of South Africa.
The team setup is pretty settled, though, even if Johnson Charles has come in as a replacement for Darren Bravo, and there is enough experience in the team to be able to shrug off the defeat to the Proteas and move on to this big game.
Chris Gayle will naturally be the focus, and India will want Shami fit to have a go at Gayle up front.
Expected lineups: India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (capt and wk), Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Mohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav.
West Indies: Dwayne Smith, Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Jonathan Carter, Denesh Ramdin, Lendl Simmons, Darren Sammy, Andre Russell, Jason Holder, Jerome Taylor, Sulieman Benn.
