Naman Dhir makes T20I debut; Sooryavanshi left out as India opt to bowl vs West Indies

Naman Dhir makes T20I debut (Image: BCCI/X)

Naman Dhir makes his T20I debut against West Indies in the opening game of the five-match series, while teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has been left out of India’s playing XI in Lucknow.Dhir, who made his ODI debut on September 27, received his maiden T20I cap from Arshdeep Singh ahead of the match. It is also a landmark occasion for West Indies spinner Akeal Hosein, who is playing his 100th T20I.

Vaibhav misses out

The notable omission from India’s XI is Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who featured in the Asian Games gold-medal match against Pakistan. The youngster is still waiting to make his India debut on home soil.Captain Shreyas Iyer confirmed that India have opted to bowl first, with dew expected to come into play later in the evening.“We are going to bowl first. It's a mixed soil. There will be some dew as well. Travel was pretty hectic. Came last night, today we have turned up for the game but we are in the zone,” Iyer said at the toss.He also praised the West Indies' T20 pedigree, adding that the visitors have “brilliant batting and all-rounders.”

Hope: West Indies wanted to bowl first

West Indies captain Shai Hope said his side would also have preferred to chase, particularly with dew likely to make conditions easier for the batting side later in the game.

“In India, it's usually a lot better to chase, especially due to dew coming into play,” Hope said.He stressed the importance of adapting quickly to different conditions and said West Indies would rely on their experienced players to support the younger members of the squad.

Five changes for India

India have made five changes from the Asian Games squad. Jasprit Bumrah, Washington Sundar, Vipraj Nigam and Yash Thakur are the four players missing from the Asian Games XI, while Naman Dhir, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Kuldeep Yadav, Prince Yadav and Mayank Yadav are the new additions to the squad for this series.However, only Dhir, Kuldeep and Mayank feature in the XI for the opening T20I.India Playing XI: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Naman Dhir, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Mayank YadavWest Indies Playing XI: Shai Hope (wk/c), Kamil Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd, Matthew Forde, Roston Chase, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Springer, Shamar Joseph