Picture Credit: BCCI
India captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to bowl first against West Indies in the opening match of the five-game T20I series at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium.
Naman Dhir will make his T20I debut after earning his first ODI appearance on September 27. Arshdeep Singh presented him with his maiden T20I cap before the match.
The fixture also marks a major milestone for West Indies spinner Akeal Hosein, who will feature in his 100th T20I for the Caribbean side.
Iyer admitted that India face a strong West Indies team but expressed confidence that his players would adjust quickly after a demanding travel schedule following their Asian Games campaign.
The India captain also praised West Indies’ recent T20I record and confirmed that Ravi Bishnoi, Nitish Reddy, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Prince Yadav missed out on the playing XI.
West Indies captain Shai Hope said his side would also have preferred to bowl first and stressed the need to adjust to the conditions.
He pointed to West Indies’ six bowling options and the presence of several all-rounders as key strengths.
Playing XIs
West Indies: Shai Hope (wk/c), Kamil Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd, Matthew Forde, Roston Chase, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Springer, Shamar Joseph.
India: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Naman Dhir, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Mayank Yadav.
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