Lucknow, October 5, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
India won the toss and elected to bowl first against the West Indies in the opening T20I of the five-match series at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium here on Tuesday.
The match marks the T20I debut of all-rounder Naman Dhir, who received his maiden India T20I cap from Arshdeep Singh. Dhir had made his ODI debut on September 27.
The game is also a milestone for West Indies spinner Akeal Hosein, who is playing his 100th T20I for the side.
India captain Shreyas Iyer said the team would look to adapt quickly despite a hectic travel schedule following its Asian Games campaign. He described the pitch as a mixed surface and expected dew to play a role later in the game.
“We are going to bowl first; it’s a mixed surface. There will be some dew as well. Travel was pretty hectic. Came last night; today we have turned up for the game, but we are in the zone,” Iyer said.
He acknowledged the strength of the West Indies in T20 cricket, particularly their batting and all-round options.
Iyer confirmed that Ravi Bishnoi, Nitish Reddy, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Prince Yadav were not part of India’s playing XI for the series opener.
West Indies captain Shai Hope said his team would also have preferred to bowl first, noting the advantage of chasing in Indian conditions.
“We would have bowled first as well. In India, it’s always good to chase. We need to adapt to the conditions; it’s different. We have new guys coming and some going out. We just got to play our best cricket,” Hope said.
He added that the West Indies had six bowling options, along with several all-rounders.
Playing XIs
West Indies: Shai Hope (wk/c), Kamil Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd, Matthew Forde, Roston Chase, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Springer, Shamar Joseph.
India: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Naman Dhir, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Mayank Yadav.
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