India and Windies are colliding in the first T20I in Kolkata. Men in Blue have won the toss and will be bowling first. Kieron Pollard is back for the Caribbeans, while Ravi Bishnoi debuts for India.
After a successful outing in the three One-Day Internationals (ODIs), India faces off against the Windies in three Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is). The opening game is being played at the iconic Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata on Wednesday. The hosts have won the toss and have opted to bowl first, citing the dew factor at night.
During the toss, Rohit commented that he would not remark on the pitch since it behaves tricky every time a game is played at this venue. However, preparations are already underway with an eye in Australia ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup later this year. He asserted that the team would be ticking the boxes.
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He also was excited about playing the game against a quality side like the Windies and expected it to challenge his team. He moved in with five batters, one all-rounder and a couple of spinners, while spinner Ravi Bishnoi will be making his debut. The team also possesses three seamers who can also be handy with the bat, while he affirmed Ishan Kishan opening.
In the meantime, Windies skipper Kieron Pollard reckoned, "The toss is 50-50. The body is good. Had a niggle in my left knee, worked with the physio in the gym and let's see what happens tonight. We try to stay in the present. What happened at the weekend is done and dusted. We had a conversation about it, happy for the guys who are selected, but business on hand now is to represent the West Indies."
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"This is where it counts in international cricket, and a lot of these guys are looking for opportunities. We were going with the same XI (vs England), but we have one forced change: Jason Holder misses out. He got hit in practice yesterday while working on his skills, and he hasn't recovered. Roston Chase gets an opportunity. We have to assess the conditions and see what the pitch has to offer," concluded Pollard.
Playing XI
IND: Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Ravi Bishnoi and Yuzvendra Chahal.
WI: Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Rovman Powell, Kieron Pollard (c), Roston Chase, Romario Shepherd, Akeal Hosein, Odean Smith, Fabian Allen and Sheldon Cottrell.
