India vs West Indies: Mukesh Kumar, Tilak Varma handed debuts in first T20I

India decided to hand debuts to Tilak Varma and Mukesh Kumar in the first of the five-match T20I series against West Indies at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago. While Mukesh had already featured in the Tests and ODIs earlier in the tour, collecting 3/30 in the ODI series decider at the same venue on Tuesday to star in a commanding 200-run win for the Men in Blue, Varma is making his maiden international appearance. LIVE: India vs West Indies, 1st T20I in Tarouba Making a case for the youngsters in the playing XI, captain Hardik Pandya alluded to the T20 Word Cup 2024, which will take place in the Caribbean and the United States and opined that this chance would allow them the benefit of knowing the local conditions when going into the tournament next year. “That was the whole plan for this tour as well. We might be coming here to play the World Cup. Some players might get a chance to play here. By the time we come here next time, we’ll be prepared. I try to keep things simple. For me it’s about improving. I focus on processes. You might have some losses and failures, I am okay with it. It’s all about challenging ourselves. Umran, Bishnoi miss out. We are playing three spinners," said Pandya during the toss.

Two debutants for #TeamIndia today.

Tilak Varma and Mukesh Kumar are all set to make their T20I debuts for India 👏👏

Go well, boys.#WIvIND pic.twitter.com/o5nMrKycvB

— BCCI (@BCCI) August 3, 2023

He also confirmed that the bowling line-up in the first T20 would have three spinners: Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Axar Patel. On the pace front, Arshdeep Singh will join captain Pandya. Meanwhile, west Indies captain Rovman Powell won the toss earlier this evening and chose to bat first. Powell described their approach as going all in, talking about the hosts’ philosophy in the T20s. “We are gonna bat. Looks like a dry surface. India are playing a lot of spinners, let’s see how we cope against them. The guys are confident. It’s not a complete change in strategy. We are still boundary hitters, we are trying to run hard. We have gone with our strengths," said the Windies captain. India XI: Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar West Indies XI: Kyle Mayers, Brandon King, Johnson Charles(w), Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell(c), Jason Holder, Romario Shepherd, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Obed McCoy