Check out: How weather and pitch may shape up for the India vs West Indies World Cup tie

Perth: Holi celebrations will experience a different shade this year as Team India take on the West Indies in a bid to seal a quarterfinal berth here in Perth on Friday. After completing a successful hat-trick of wins first against arch-nemesis Pakistan, then South Africa and finally crushing minnows UAE, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and company will look to continue with their recent success.

Here’s how the weather and pitch may shape up for this important Pool B clash

Weather

Hot, bright and sunny conditions are expected at the WACA with a maximum temperature of 32 °C and a minimum temperature as low as 19 °C. Overall, conditions seem to be perfect for an exciting day of cricket.

Pitch

The WACA pitch has always been a paradise for bowlers assisting the fast and medium pacers with the good bounce. Ravichandran Ashwin, who in all certainty will look to spearhead the spin attack for the Indians should be happy with this wicket as well.

Key players

The defending champions will walk out with confidence, consistency and an untimely controversy behind their back. It will be difficult to predict which team West Indies will field on the day. Will it be the one who lost to Ireland by four wickets or the one that emerged victorious with a thumping win over Pakistan and Zimbabwe?

Mohit Sharma

Mohit Sharma has proven to be the ideal replacement for the lanky injured Ishant Sharma. In the three games he played, Mohit has taken five wickets averaging just above 16 runs and an economy rate of 3.90. And if the figures aren’t that convincing enough, he was also responsible for South African skipper AB de Villiers’ run-out when India finally broke the jinx with a 130-run win against the Proteas at the MCG. Going into this match, Mohit will look to ascertain his place as Team India’s premium fast bowler.

Marlon Samuels

The last time Chris Gayle scored a century against Team India in ODIs was in 2006.19 innings after that, the Jamaican-born player has hit only 450 runs averaging 23.68 and has had seven single-digit scores including four ducks. The odds are highly against Gayle but not in the case of Marlon Samuels. In his last five innings against India, Samuels has scored 333 runs – two hundreds in his last three against them. His 1140 against the Men in Blue are the most he has against any team and he will look to better that score in this game too.