India won the toss and opted to bowl first in the opening T20I of the three-match series against West Indies here at the Eden Gardens on Sunday.
After winning the toss, India's stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma, said, "We've played a lot of cricket here and seen that when you bat second and have a score in front of you, it becomes easier. And the dew factor will be massive as well. Dew has already started to set in, but I hope it won't affect things too much in the first innings. We've got to focus on the basics and it's about adapting as soon as we can. A lot of these guys have played T20 cricket, so they understand the demands of the game. Keeping all that in mind, I'm expecting a good performance here. We're playing against the world champions, so it will be interesting."
West Indies skipper Carlos Brathwaite, on the other hand, said that he too would have opted to bowl first had he won the toss.
"We were here last night and the dew was ridiculous. But we are bowling second now so we have to contend with that. We have plans for the batsman and bowlers. I've told them to just go and be expressive, enjoy the occasion," he added.
Assisting the team with the ball , two international debutants Krunal Pandya and Khaleel Ahmed have been called in the Indian squad to complement Umesh Yadav in place of injured Bhuvneshkar Kumar, while Yuzvendra Chahal will warm the bench.
For West Indies, the most significant absentees will be injured Andre Russell and Ashley Nurse. Oshane Thomas and Obed McCoy have to make-up for him if they want to restrict the home team.
India, who recently clinched the five-match ODI series against the Caribbean side 3-1, will look to continue their dominance over the visitors heading into the T20I series.
The two squads are as follows:
India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed
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