With series already in their pocket, India take on West Indies as Men in Blue won the toss and elected to bat first in the dead rubber fifth T20I on Sunday (August 7).
Rohit Sharma has missed the last tie and Hardik Pandya took over the mantle to lead India. ndia made wholesale changes to the squad, bringing in Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer and Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI in place of regular skipper Rohit, senior batter Suryakumar Yadav and seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who all were rested from the last game. West Indies made four changes with Odean Smith, Shamarh Brooks, Hayden Walsh and Keemo Paul returning to the side.
“We want to bat. We saw how the wicket slowed down yesterday. We want to bat on a fresher wicket. We are like we are not playing at Miami. 99 per cent of the fans are supporting India. No matter what happens, we have set some standards for the Indian cricket team. We need to go out there and showcase our skill set. Obviously, the coach, the captain and senior members have done some tremendous job. 4 changes to the team,” India's stand-in captain Hardik Pandya said.
“We wanted to bat first but that's fine. We have four changes. Brooks, Walsh, Odean Smith and Keemo Paul have come in. We have to prepare for the WC. This is a fresh group and India is a great team as well. The venue was small at St. Kitts and hence Walsh wasn't included. But we know when we do need a spin option, we have them,” West Indies skipper Nicholas Pooran.
India (Playing XI): Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya(c), Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik(w), Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh.
West Indies (Playing XI): Shamarh Brooks, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran(c), Devon Thomas(w), Jason Holder, Odean Smith, Keemo Paul, Dominic Drakes, Obed McCoy, Hayden Walsh, Rovman Powell
