India captain Shubman Gill won the toss and opted to bowl in the first ODI against West Indies at Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram. Hosts India will look to keep the winning momentum as they have not lost an ODI series against West Indies since 2002. However, not everything is smooth sailing for India in this format. Since winning the Champions Trophy in 2025, India have played five ODI series and lost three of them. Naman Dhir made his debut in the series opener after a great show in the Sher-e-Punjab tournament.
On the other hand, West Indies are currently facing a massive downfall in ODIs as the side as they are out from the ODI World Cup 2027 contention as their place in the tournament to be decided through the Qualifiers.
Captains at toss
Shai Hope (West Indies captain): We are gonna bowl first, looks like a decent surface. Will come better under the lights, so want to chase. We have a got a decent combination, four bowlers and two allrounders. 20-odd matches to go for the World Cup, so good for us to test the combination. We are going with four bowlers.
Shubman Gill (India captain): We are gonna bowl first, looks like a decent surface. Will come better under the lights, so want to chase. We have a got a decent combination, four bowlers and two allrounders. 20 off matches to go for the World Cup, so good for us to test the combination. We are going with four bowlers.
India vs West Indies playing XIs
West Indies (Playing XI): John Campbell, Justin Greaves, Keacy Carty, Shai Hope(w/c), Amir Jangoo, Jewel Andrew, Roston Chase, Matthew Forde, Gudakesh Motie, Alzarri Joseph, Jayden Seales
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill(c), Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul(w), Naman Dhir, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Gurnoor Brar, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna