Krunal Pandya will make his T20I debut for India in the first game of the three-match series against Windies. The Indian team management, on Saturday, announced the name of 12 players ahead of the first T20I at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
With Virat Kohli rested, Rohit Sharma will lead the side. Along with Kohli, MS Dhoni is also not a part of the team. In the absence of the veteran keeper-batsman, Rishabh Pant will don the gloves while Dinesh Karthik will play as a specialist batsman. Rohit and Shikhar are likely to open the innings while KL Rahul will follow them at number three.
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Manish Pandey, Pant, Karthik and Pandya will take care of the middle-order. Kuldeep Yadav and Pandya will take care of the spin department while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Khaleel Ahmed will take responsibility of the fast-bowling department.
India will enter the game as firm favourites, having crushed Windies in the Test and ODIs. India won the Test series 2-0 before thrashing the Windies 3-1 in ODIs. However, India’s record against Windies in T20Is is not great.
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The two-time WorldT20 winners have a five-two record from eight exchanges against India. India failed to overcome Carlos Brathwaite’s men in their last four encounters and the Windies ended the home team’s campaign in the 2016 T20I World Cup, defeating them in the semi-final. India’s last win against West Indies came way back on March 23, 2014 in the WorldT20 in Bangladesh.
Speaking ahead of the game, skipper Rohit Sharma also acknowledged the threat possessed by Windies, saying:
“Windies are a dangerous team as they are the defending champions of World T20. They are undoubtedly one of the strongest in this format. We have seen in this in the past that they have a completely different approach to this format of the game. So keeping their strength in mind, we need to do what we do best. Also I think we have the same quality in our attack. It should be a great contest, this series,” he said.
The first match of the series will be held at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Sunday (November 4).
India’s 12-man team for the first T20I:
Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal