West Indies opt to bat; India hand T20I debut to Jaiswal

West Indies

Toss West Indies chose to bat vs India

It was West Indies who had the luck of the draw at the toss in the third T20I, with home captain Rovman Powell choosing to bat. Both captains said batting first was the preferred option on this used Providence surface, but Hardik Pandya said he “wouldn’t mind” chasing.

India have never lost three T20I games in a bilateral series, and for them, the five-game series is on the line having gone 0-2 down already. Kuldeep Yadav recovered from an injury to return in place of Ravi Bishnoi, while there was a T20I debut for Yashasvi Jaiswal, replacing fellow left-hand opener Ishan Kishan at the top.

Jaiswal had recently impressed with 171 on Test debut and a half-century in his second Test outing, and also won the Emerging Player Award at IPL 2023. He scored 625 runs in 14 innings during the IPL which also included the fastest fifty in the tournament’s history. Sanju Samson will now keep wicket.

A knee injury kept Jason Holder out of the West Indies XI, with Roston Chase replacing him and offering another spin option for the home captain. If West Indies win, it will be their first T20I series win over India since August 2016, ending a five-series losing streak against the opponents.

“Beating India in a T20 series will go well not just as individuals, but also as a board,” Rovman Powell said at the toss. “The boys are optimistic about our chances. If you get predictable against India, they will destroy you.”

Hardik admitted Nicholas Pooran, who has scored 67 and 41 in the two games this series, “has been batting very well.” He said India’s plans were to “keep things simple to him, rather than trying a lot of things.”

There is a small chance of rain in the afternoon, however at the toss, the skies were bright and conditions were sunny.

West Indies: 1 Brandon King, 2 Kyle Mayers, 3 Johnson Charles, 4 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 5 Rovman Powell (capt), 6 Shimron Hetmyer, 7 Romario Shepherd, 8 Roston Chase, 9 Akeal Hosein, 10 Alzarri Joseph, 11 Obed McCoy

India: 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Hardik Pandya (capt), 6 Sanju Samson (wk), 7 Axar Patel, 8 Kuldeep Yadav, 9 Arshdeep Singh, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Mukesh Kumar.

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