West Indies skipper Nicholas Pooran has won the toss and opted to bat in the 2nd ODI vs India at Port of Spain on Sunday.
Avesh Khan will debut for India, while Windies bring in Hayden Walsh for Motie.
Playing XI
West Indies: Shai Hope(w), Brandon King, Shamarh Brooks, Kyle Mayers, Nicholas Pooran(c), Rovman Powell, Akeal Hosein, Romario Shepherd, Alzarri Joseph, Jayden Seales, Hayden Walsh
India: Shikhar Dhawan(c), Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson(w), Deepak Hooda, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan
Stand-in skipper Shikhar Dhawan will again look to make a statement as the Indian team, made up of fringe players, take on the West Indies in the second ODI, in Port of Spain, on Sunday.
Having won the first game by three runs, another victory will give India a successive ODI series win in the Caribbean.
Be it Dhawan and comeback man Shubman Gill’s aggressive opening stand, or Mohammad Siraj’s emergence as the leader of the bowling attack in the absence of the experienced Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah, India ticked all the boxes on Friday to go 1-0 up in the three-match series.
With Shreyas Iyer too finding some form with a half-century, it was a perfect top-three act by the Indian team, but a middle-order collapse followed and India settled for 308 for seven after being in a position to go beyond 350.
In the middle-order, the spotlight would be on Sanju Samson the batter as he once again failed to make use of the opportunity at this level, returning with an 18-ball 12.
The Kerala stumper, however, made up for his lack of runs with a stunning boundary save at the death, which played a part in India pulling off a win in the last-ball of the match with Mohammed Siraj defending 15 runs.
On Sunday, the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Samson, Deepak Hooda and Axar Patel would like to deliver.
Dhawan pulled off a surprise in the absence of the injured Ravindra Jadeja, making part-time spinner Deepak Hooda bowl ahead of specialist Yuzvendra Chahal inside the first 20 overs.
Chahar returned wicket-less but he was the most economical (4.40) bowler of the day for the Indians, finishing with 0/22 from his five overs and forcing the West Indies to play catch up.
Siraj stood out as the pace spearhead dismissed Nicholas Pooraj in the middle overs and returned at the death with his perfect yorkers.
With the series on the line, the West Indies would look to put an end to their losing streak in ODIs which has now stretched to seven matches, including a 0-3 loss to Bangladesh in the preceding rubber.
The last time India toured the West Indies for an ODI series, the Men in Blue emerged 2-0 victors, with one match washed out due to rain.
