NEW DELHI: Rising stars Tilak Varma and Mukesh Kumar have been handed T20 debuts as West Indies won the toss and elected to bat against India in the first T20I in Tarouba, Trinidad on Thursday.
Pacer Mukesh, who will be playing his maiden T20, made his Test and ODI debut earlier on the tour.
"We are gonna bat. Looks like a dry surface. India are playing a lot of spinners, let's see how we cope against them. The guys are confident. It's not a complete change in strategy. We are still boundary hitters, we are trying to run hard. We have gone with our strengths," Windies skipper Rovman Powell said after winning the toss.
"That was the whole plan for this tour as well. We might be coming here to play the World Cup. Some players might get a chance to play here. By the time we come here next time, we'll be prepared. I try to keep things simple. For me it's about improving. I focus on processes. You might have some losses and failures, I am okay with it. It's all about challenging ourselves. Umran, Bishnoi miss out. We are playing three spinners," India skipper Hardik Pandya said at the toss.
Squads:
