India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat first against West Indies in the third and final ODI of the three-match series being played at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday. India have already taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series and therefore made as many as four changes to their playing XI for the final contest.
The hosts have included Kuldeep Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar and Shikhar Dhawan in place of Yuzvendra Chahal, Deepak Hooda, Shardul Thakur and KL Rahul.
3rd ODI Blog: India vs West Indies
“It’s something we always wanted to do. Not too much thought about this, it’s always nice to post runs on the board,” Rohit explained his decision to bat first.
“And give the bowlers a chance to do what they did in the last game. You just have to do what you want to achieve as a team. We have solid confidence in our bowling unit, so let’s give it a crack,” he added.
West Indies, on the other hand, have a forced changed with Akeal Hosein sitting out and Hayden Walsh replacing him. Kieron Pollard is out for a second consecutive ODI with Nicholas Pooran continuing to lead the team.
Pooran said, “Couldn’t get over the line in the last game, hopefully we do it today. The batters need to bat for long and not leave it for others. We need to win those important moments.”
The ODIs will be followed by three T20Is to be played in Kolkata.
Playing XIs
West Indies: Shai Hope(wk), Brandon King, Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, Nicholas Pooran(c), Jason Holder, Fabian Allen, Odean Smith, Alzarri Joseph, Hayden Walsh, Kemar Roach.
India: Rohit Sharma(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant(wk), Washington Sundar, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.
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