Naman Dhir makes his debut, India ask West Indies to bat in ODI series opener

Toss India chose to field vs West Indies

Kuldeep Yadav made his comeback into the ODI XI after missing all three games in England as India started their home season by winning the toss and asking West Indies to bat first in Thiruvananthapuram. This was also the anticipated return to international cricket for Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who last played the ODI series in England, the only format they now play internationally.

India left out Mohammed Siraj, choosing instead two similar tall, hit-the-deck fast bowlers in Prasidh Krishna and Gurnoor Brar. The three allrounders were left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, medium pace bowler Nitish Kumar Reddy, and debutant offspinner Naman Dhir. Yashasvi Jaiswal couldn't break into the XI.

West Indies, who will have to play the qualifiers next year to avoid missing out on a second straight ODI World Cup, were without Sherfane Rutherford, who is out of the first ODI with "a personal matter". That gave a chance to Jewel Andrew, the 19-year-old wicketkeeper who last played an ODI more than a year ago.

Both sides came into the series having lost their last one: West Indies at home to New Zealand, and India in England. For West Indies, it has been a long struggle to keep the 50-over format alive in the islands with no domestic List A tournament scheduled this year for financial reasons. ODIs continue to capture the imagination in India, but they have lost two of their last three series and are still looking to identify a core group for next year's World Cup.

India 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shubman Gill (capt), 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 5 KL Rahul (wk), 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 8 Naman Dhir, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Prasidh Krishna, 11 Gurnoor Brar

West Indies 1 John Campbell, 2 Justin Greaves, 3 Keacy Carty, 4 Shai Hope (capt & wk), 5 Amir Jangoo, 6 Jewel Andrew, 7 Roston Chase, 8 Matthew Forde, 9 Gudakesh Motie, 10 Jayden Seales, 11 Alzarri Joseph