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Indian skipper Shubman Gill won the toss and elected to bowl first against West Indies in the first ODI of the three-match series being played at Greenfield International Stadium here on Sunday.
The three-match ODI series serves as a crucial contest for West Indies as they fine tune their combination for the 2027 World Cup Qualifiers, having missed out on direct qualification this time around as well on the basis of ODI Rankings. For India, not only is the series a preparation for the 2027 WC and the return of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to playing action that creates a buzz among cricket enthusiasts. Speaking during the toss, skipper Gill said that Punjab and Mumbai Indians (MI) star Naman Dhir is making his international debut. "We are gonna bowl first, looks like a decent surface. Will come better under the lights, so want to chase. We have a got a decent combination, four bowlers and two all-rounders. 20 off matches to go for the World Cup, so good for us to test the combination. We are going with four bowlers. Naman Dhir makes his debut," said Gill. West Indies skipper Shai Hope said, "Well, it (toss) does not really matter now, does it? We would have probably batted today. [On the preparation] It is been a quick turnaround for us. We play a lot of cricket, different format from CPL (Caribbean Premier League), but it has been going pretty well. I think the guys have been playing some good cricket in the last couple of years, just about for us now to come to India and try to replicate that." Indian 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 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. (ANI)
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