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In his last game as T20I captain, Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bowl first. Indian skipper made just one change in the side by including leg-spinner Rahul Chahar for the dead rubber against Namibia. Chahar will be making his T20 World Cup debut after getting included in the squad ahead of the veteran Yuzvendra Chahal despite the latter’s impressive performances in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021.
“The tosses have been a big factor, and when I've won a couple we'll do what we wanted to do from Day 1. It's been an honour to captain India and I've done my best. The shortest format has to give way for the longest format. I've been grateful for the opportunity. It's time for the next lot to take the team forward. Rohit has been looking on anyway, and Indian cricket is in good handsm” Kohli said at the toss.
The young leg-spinner replaced India’s mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy in the side. Chakravarthy has been wicketless in the tournament in the three games he has played. Before the start of the tournament, he was considered as India's X-factor after his performances in the IPL 2021 for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) helping the Eoin Morgan-led side reach the final.
India Playing XI: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rahul Chahar, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah
Namibia Playing XI: Stephan Baard, Michael van Lingen, Craig Williams, Gerhard Erasmus(c), Zane Green(w), David Wiese, Jan Frylinck, JJ Smit, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Ruben Trumpelmann, Bernard Scholtz
