India to bowl first against West Indies in 1st T20I (BCCI Twitter)
Tilak Varma and Mukesh Kumar were handed their T20I debuts in the series opener against West Indies with India set to bowl first
West Indies captain Rovman Powell won the toss in the first T20I against India and elected to bat first at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba on Thursday, August 3. Indian captain Hardik Pandya led a young-looking side as he handed debuts to Tilak Varma and Mukesh Kumar in the T20I series opener.
While speaking at the toss, Pandya confirmed that India would lineup with three spinners, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal both start alongside Axar Patel.
Arshdeep Singh and Mukesh Kumar will join captain Hardik to form the pace battery.
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Talking about the young-looking India side, Hardik Pandya hinted about the upcoming T20 World Cup while talking about giving the young players a chance.
“That was the whole plan for this tour as well. We might be coming here to play the World Cup. Some players might get a chance to play here. By the time we come here next time, we’ll be prepared. I try to keep things simple. For me it’s about improving. I focus on processes. You might have some losses and failures, I am okay with it. It’s all about challenging ourselves. Umran, Bishnoi miss out. We are playing three spinners,” said Pandya after toss.
Powell meanwhile talked about the West Indies philosophy in the shortest format, saying that they will look to give it their all.
“We are gonna bat. Looks like a dry surface. India are playing a lot of spinners, let’s see how we cope against them. The guys are confident. It’s not a complete change in strategy. We are still boundary hitters, we are trying to run hard. We have gone with our strengths,” said the Windies captain.
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India XI: Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar
West Indies XI: Kyle Mayers, Brandon King, Johnson Charles(w), Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell(c), Jason Holder, Romario Shepherd, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Obed McCoy
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