Team India's management has decided to hand Mukesh Kumar his ODI debut in the first of their three-match series in Barbados on Sunday, July 27. Having sealed the Test series 1-0, India have handed a well-deserved debut to Mukesh Kumar, who made his international debut in the second drawn Test in the Port of Spain.
With the teams decided, India's skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bowl first.
India have also handed a chance to young pacer Umran Malik in the playing XI as the management is building their team for the 2023 ODI World Cup. He is playing in this format for the first time since January 2023. Meanwhile, Suryakumar has been also been given a chance in the XI.
The veteran middle-order batter has not been able to impress in his ODI career so far. But considering his ability, the team management will want him to gain some form heading into the World Cup.
Rohit also revealed the reason he wanted to field first. “… Just that we wanted to try a few different things and see where we are as a team. We want to head into the World Cup with a clear mindset. For us, the results are also important. At times, we are going to try out different players but we don't want to compromise on our results. All cricketers around the world who are playing all formats need to adapt well. Hopefully, we can get what we want here,”
“Every series means a lot. We've got to play each game and each series to win. Now is a good opportunity to do so against a top team. We've got some quality spinners as well, the aim is to bowl in the right areas, make sure we capitalize on our chances. We dropped a few chances the last time, need to be clinical on the field, and post a good total. Bit of moisture, maybe tricky in the morning. We need to make sure we assess, and post a good total,” said the Windies skipper Shai Hope
India's Playing XI:
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Umran Malik, Mukesh Kumar
West Indies Playing XI:
Shai Hope (c), Kyle Mayers, Brandon King, Alick Athanaze, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Romario Shepherd, Yannic Cariah, Dominic Drakes, Jaydon Seales, Gudakesh Motie
