Follow UsIndia are back at home, and they will be taking on West Indies in the first Test of the two-match series, starting October 2 (Thursday) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Visiting skipper Roston Chase won the toss and opted to bat first, saying he would ‘not want to bat last on this wicket’ which, according to him, will surely turn.
The Windies, depleted by the absence of their premier pacers Alzarri Joseph and Shamar Joseph due to injury, opted to give national caps to spinner Khary Pierre and medium pacer Johann Layne.
While Pierre has played three ODIs and 10 T20Is, he also has experience of 35 First-Class games with him and will be one of the three spinners in the side alongside skipper Chase and vice-captain Jomel Warrican.
Layne, 22, has played 19 First-Class matches, picking 66 wickets in them at an impressive average of 22 and a brilliant strike rate of 38.
India skipper Shubman Gill stuck to his words from the pre-match press conference and did play three seamers. Apart from Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy is also part of the XI.
The three spinners in the hosts’ playing 11 are Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, and Ravindra Jadeja. There was no spot for in-form Devdutt Padikkal.