Fast bowler Mukesh Kumar will be making his ODI debut as India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first against West Indies in the first game of the three-match series at Kensington Oval, here on Thursday.
Mukesh, the right-arm quick, who made his Test debut against West Indies in Port-of-Spain last week, has now received his maiden cap to become the 251st player for India in the 50-over format.
He will be a part of the four-man fast-bowling attack for India, with Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav being two spin options as the visitors begin to finetune their combination for the upcoming ODI World Cup, to be held at home from October 5 to November 19.
“No particular reason (behind bowling first). We are gonna try a few different things. 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,” said Rohit at the toss.
West Indies are not taking part in the ODI World Cup after failing to qualify for the tournament. But captain Shai Hope believes every series means a lot to them.
“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,” Hope said.
“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,” he added.
Playing XIs:
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Umran Malik and Mukesh Kumar
West Indies: Shai Hope (captain & wicketkeeper), Kyle Mayers, Brandon King, Alick Athanaze, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Romario Shepherd, Yannic Cariah, Dominic Drakes, Jayden Seales and Gudakesh Motie
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