First ODI: Pollard’s decision to bowl first surprises Kohli, know why

Chennai: West Indies Skipper Kieron Pollard won the toss and asked India to bat in the first ODI at the M A Chidambaram Stadium here on Sunday.

Pollard said, “Will bowl first. Weather a bit of an unknown, despite the fact that the sun is out”.

Indian captain Virat Kohli said “Wanted to bat, very happy, it’s a dry surface.”

He also said he was very surprised by West Indies’ decision to bowl.

“Batting first is our strength”, he added.

The Indian has left out Manish Pandey, Shardul Thakur, who came in as replacement for injured Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Agarwal and wrist spinner Yuzvendra Chahal.

After two days of fickle weather, a clear sky with sun blazing, greeted the two teams to a packed house.

The Teams:

India: Rohit Sharma, K L Rahul, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishab Pant, Kedar Jadhav, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Shami.

West Indies: Shai Hope, Sunil Ambris, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran, Roston Chase, Kieron Pollard, Jason Holder, Keemo Paul, Hayden Walsh, Alzarri Joseph, Sheldon Cottrell. (UNI)