IND vs WI ODI: India win toss, elect to bowl first; Naman Dhir makes his debut

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Shubman Gill won the toss and elected to bowl first in the first ODI against West Indies at Thiruvananthapuram. Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are included in the playing XI for India, with Naman Dhir making his debut.

After winning the toss, Indian captain Shubman Gill was happy to bowl first. Gill said he wanted to chase the West Indies total and understand the pitch as the match progressed.

“We’re gonna bowl first. Looks a pretty good surface. Looks like a decent surface, very hot, so I think it’ll come a little bit better under lights, so we’ll try to chase. [On not having everyone available because of the Asian Games] I mean, I think we’ve got a pretty decent combination here, going with four bowlers and two all-rounders. [On the World Cup build-up] I think 20-odd matches to go before the World Cup starts, so I think this is the time to see what combination suits us the best and then give that combination as much time in the middle as possible. [On the playing XI] We are going with four bowlers and then two all-rounders, with Reddy and Naman, who makes his debut.” Gill said.

West Indies captain Shai Hope said he was looking to bat first anyway and put up a big score against the hosts.

“We’d have probably batted today. [What will it take to beat India?] Really, a big score on the board. We’ve got to make sure we put a big score on the board. It’s very good conditions here in India to bat; it usually tends to get a little bit better actually in the evening time. So a good start with the bat and hopefully we can finish it off with the ball. This is probably the closest thing to the Caribbean here in Trivandrum. So I think the guys will be happy with the start we got here,” Hope said.

Playing XI for both teams: 

West Indies (Playing XI): John Campbell, Justin Greaves, Keacy Carty, Shai Hope(w/c), Amir Jangoo, Jewel Andrew, Roston Chase, Matthew Forde, Gudakesh Motie, Alzarri Joseph, Jayden Seales

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill(c), Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul(w), Naman Dhir, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Gurnoor Brar, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna

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