India vs West Indies, 1st ODI: Toss, Playing XI, Pitch Report, Pre-Match Comments: Pooran elects to chase

Add as a preferred source on Google

Port of Spain, July 22: After winning the ODI series in England, Team India is starting its campaign in the Caribbean with a three-match series against West Indies.

Toss: West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran on Friday (July 22) won the toss and invited Shikhar Dhawan to bat first in the first ODI at Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

Injury concerns: Both the teams are missing players from their squads due to injury. India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been ruled out of the first two ODIs due to injury while senior West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder has tested positive for COVID-19.

After winning the toss, Windies captain Pooran, said: "We are gonna have a bowl first. There's the weather around and there will be help for the bowlers early on, hopefully, we will make use of it. It's a nice feeling, a better feeling to win the toss, very happy to be here in front of my home ground. We spoke about it, batting in partnerships, and gaining momentum, it's been tough for us, but we are up for the challenge. Every game we will try to improve. Unfortunately, Jason [Holder] has Covid so he misses out. It's pretty much the same guys who played in the series against Bangladesh."

India captain Dhawan after the toss said, "We were thinking of batting second, the weather looks like it will rain later on and the wicket is sticky but we are happy to bat first. I'm a very cool captain and like to guide the team, I will love to take the right decision but importantly make sure the process is right, we are focussing on the process and make sure we get the right result. It's complimentary, so much talent in the country due to our domestic cricket and the IPL. The boys got a lot of exposure, it's a great opportunity for all to showcase our talent. There's Surya, Shreyas, and Sanju all the boys are quite good - even myself (smiles). Lots of fans come from overseas to support us, we always like playing here in the Caribbean, the guys are really looking forward to it."

Playing XIs:

India: Shikhar Dhawan(c), Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson(w), Deepak Hooda, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna.

West Indies: Shai Hope(w), Brandon King, Shamarh Brooks, Kyle Mayers, Nicholas Pooran(c), Rovman Powell, Akeal Hosein, Romario Shepherd, Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Jayden Seales.