Toss West Indies opt to bat vs India
West Indies won the toss and chose to bat in the T20I series opener against India in Tarouba. After being dropped for the last two ODIs of this tour, Rovman Powell returned to take charge of West Indies’ T20I side. Nicholas Pooran and Jason Holder, who had both made themselves unavailable for the ODI leg, also returned to the XI.
India handed T20I debuts to seamer Mukesh Kumar and batter Tilak Varma. Mukesh was picked ahead of both Umran Malik and Avesh Khan while Yuzvendra Chahal reunited with Kuldeep Yadav. Axar Patel was the third spin-bowling option for India on a dry Tarouba track. West Indies, on the other hand, picked just one spinner in Akeal Hosein, who is back from the Major League Cricket T20 tournament that took place in the USA. There was no room for offspin-bowling allrounder Roston Chase.
Ishan Kishan was listed to open the batting alongside Shubman Gill for India who managed to fit Sanju Samson into their line-up once again.
West Indies seamer Obed McCoy makes his return from injury, having last played for the national side in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. His left-arm angle and variations could pose a threat to India. Last year against the same opposition, he had bagged career-best figures of 6 for 17 in Basseterre.
West Indies: 1 Brandon King, 2 Kyle Mayers, 3 Johnson Charles (wk), 4 Nicholas Pooran, 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Rovman Powell (capt), 7 Romario Shepherd, 8 Jason Holder, 9 Akeal Hosein, 10 Alzarri Joseph, 11 Obed McCoy
India: 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Ishan Kishan (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Hardik Pandya (capt), 6 Sanju Samson, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Kuldeep Yadav, 9 Yuzvendra Chahal, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Mukesh Kumar
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