Ahmedabad: India captain Rohit Sharma has won the toss and elected to bat first in the third and final ODI against the West Indies at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday. The pitch for the final match, effectively a dead rubber, is the one where India had won the second ODI on Wednesday.
After winning the toss, Sharma said Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer and Kuldeep Yadav come into the playing eleven in place of KL Rahul (niggle), Deepak Hooda and Yuzvendra Chahal. Sharma forgot to mention that Deepak Chahar replaces Shardul Thakur in the playing eleven as well.
“Not much thought about the toss. Always nice to post some runs and give the bowlers a chance to do what they did the other night. You cannot really plan around dew. You need to do what you want to achieve as a team, and today we want to post runs on the board. Have solid confidence on the bowling unit.”
West Indies skipper Nicholas Pooran said leg-spinner Hayden Walsh Jr. comes in for left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein. “We would’ve liked to bowl too. The batting failed us last time. We need our batters to stay in and not leave the finishing to someone else. Want to win the important moments.”
Playing XIs:
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Washington Sundar, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna.
West Indies: Brandon King, Shai Hope (wicketkeeper), Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, Nicholas Pooran (captain), Jason Holder, Hayden Walsh Jr., Fabien Allen, Odean Smith, Alzarri Joseph and Kemar Roach.
Ms Kalinga