India vs West Indies: Ravindra Jadeja ruled out of first two ODIs due to knee injury

Port of Spain, July 22: Senior India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is going to miss the first two One-Day Internationals against the West Indies due to a knee injury.

The Saurashtra cricketer - who was appointed the vice-captain of the ODI squad - was on Friday (July 22) ruled out ahead of the opening ODI at Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago. The BCCI gave the update on his fitness before the start of the first ODI.

"Team India all-rounder Mr. Ravindra Jadeja has sustained an injury to his right knee and has been ruled out of the first two ODIs against West Indies. "The BCCI Medical team is monitoring his progress and a decision on his participation in the third ODI will be taken accordingly," said BCCI in a statement.

Meanwhile, West Indies team also suffered a setback as their star all-rounder Jason Holder, who made a return to the West Indies squad, also missed the opening encounter after contracting COVID-19.

Earlier in the day, West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran won the toss and invited India skipper Shikhar Dhawan to bat first in the opener. 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."