India also make four changes, with Gaikwad among those getting a game
Toss: West Indies chose to bowl v India
West Indies won the toss and chose to bowl against India in the third T20I at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Captain Kieron Pollard said “nothing much had changed” on the surface and that dew was expected to make a big impact, which was why he opted to bat second.
India captain Rohit Sharma said that India would have a new opening combination, with Gaikwad partnering Ishan Kishan, who will also take the gloves in Pant’s absence. “We did pretty well in the last game, so feels pretty good,” Rohit said of batting first. “Good challenge for us with some of the guys missing.”
West Indies had Fabian Allen coming back into the XI along with Hayden Walsh Jr, Dominic Drakes and Shai Hope getting their first game of the series. Those sitting out were Brandon King, Odean Smith, Akeal Hossein and Sheldon Cottrell.
Pollard said the team had done a lot of things right in the first two games, but wanted to put it all together better in the third. “Yes we have lost two games but we have done some good things,” Pollard said. “The way we fielded in the second game is where we faltered, and bowling in the back end. Hopefully we can put the pieces together in this game.”
The same pitch as was used for the second T20I, but is still expected to favour batters.
India: 1 Ishan Kishan (wk), 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 3 Rohit Sharma (capt), 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 Suryakumar Yadav, 6 Venkatesh Iyer, 7 Harshal Patel, 8 Deepak Chahar, 9 Shardul Thakur, 10 Ravi Bishnoi, 11 Avesh Khan
West Indies: 1 Kyle Mayers, 2 Shai Hope, 3 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 4 Rovman Powell, 5 Kieron Pollard (capt), 6 Jason Holder, 7 Roston Chase, 8 Romario Shepherd, 9 Fabian Allen, 10 Dominic Drakes, 11 Hayden Walsh Jr
Saurabh Somani is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo