India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first in the first ODI of the three-match ODI series, scheduled to be played in Ahmedabad.
After a disappointing 0-3 defeat against South Africa in the ODI series, team India will aim for a comeback under the leadership of Rohit Sharma as they take on West Indies in a three-match ODI series. It is important to mention that this is the first time that Rohit Sharma will be leading team India in ODIs as permanent ODI captain.
Another record
The first ODI against West Indies is going to be India's 1000th ODI match as well. Indian team played their first ODI match against England, back in 1974. In total the Indian team have so far secured 518 victories with 431 defeats and 41 of the remaining matches had no results.
A vital call
Much was discussed regarding who would open the batting alongside Rohit in the inaugural encounter of the ODI series against West Indies. Skipper Rohit ended all the speculations by announcing Ishan Kishan's name as his opening partner during a press conference that had taken place on February 5 (Saturday).
With no KL Rahul (personal reasons), Shikhar Dhawan and Ruturaj Gaikwad (both out due to Covid-19 contradiction), the team management had a vital call to make before opting for Ishan. On the flip side, Deepak Hooda has been knocking on the doors for some time as he gets his first opportunity with the national team.
Motivated West Indies
The visitors come with a high boost of happy morale after beating England in the recently concluded T20I series but memories are still fresh from their disappointing loss to Ireland in the ODI series as well. West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard would surely be eager to start the ODI series against Indian team on a positive note.
After the completion of ODI series, the two teams will face each other in a three-match T20I series. All the T20I matches are scheduled to be played in Kolkata.
India Playing XI:
Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna
West Indies Playing XI:
Kieron Pollard (c), Shai Hope (wicketkeeper), Brandon King, Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, Nicholas Pooran, Jason Holder, Fabian Allen, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Kemar Roach
