Chennai: West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard won the toss and opted to field against India in the first contest of the three-match One-Day International (ODI) rubber at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, here on Sunday.
“We will field first. This pitch is a bit of an unknown so we will see how it behaves. We are looking forward to this challenge. We have done a lot of talking about how we want to play international cricket. We want to be competitive,” Pollard said at the toss.
India skipper Virat Kohli said: “Very happy to bat first. It looks like a dry track and we would have wanted to bat anyway. A decent total on the board would put us in a strong position. In 50 overs, strike rotation is important and that’s where our bowling attack becomes lethal. West Indies are a dangerous side and we can’t take them lightly.”
“The guys who are not playing are Manish Pandey, Mayank Agarwal, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Shardul Thakur,” Kohli added.
Playing XI:
India: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (Captain), Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Kedar Jadhav, Shivam Dube, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravindra Jadeja
West Indies: Shai Hope (wicket-keeper), Sunil Ambris, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran, Roston Chase, Kieron Pollard (Captain), Jason Holder, Keemo Paul, Hayden Walsh, Alzarri Joseph, Sheldon Cottrell
