Ahmedabad, Feb 6: India won the toss and elected to bowl first against West Indies in the first One-Day International match here at Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.
The match is historic as India is playing its 1000th One Day International(ODI) and it became the first international team to cross the four-figure mark.
India skipper Rohit Sharma, who returned to lead India after missing the South Africa series due to a hamstring injury, said he is happy to back to be on the field. Deepak Hooda has been handed the cap and he will be making his ODI debut for India.
“It looks a good pitch and might be slightly better to bat under lights. Happy to be back – playing for the country is the priority. I haven’t played cricket for a couple of months but these things happen when you play all the time. Obviously, a historic day in Indian cricket, playing the 1000th ODI. It’s been a long journey and we’ve had ups and downs. We’ve got some positive cases in our camp, a couple of new faces,” said Rohit.
West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard said: “The toss is 50-50, no one knows what’s going to happen. It has been difficult, three days quarantine and one day practice. We have to come out and perform. It’s a big field, we need to rotate the strike. Roach comes back into our XI, Fabian Allen as well gets an opportunity in 50-over cricket and Darren Bravo gets a game. I know they’re looking forward to the challenge.
Playing XIs: India: Rohit Sharma (C), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj West Indies: Brandon King, Shai Hope (wk), Shamarh Brooks, Darren Bravo, Nicholas Pooran, Kieron Pollard (C), Jason Holder, Fabian Allen, Alzarri Joseph, Kemar Roach, Akeal Hosein
