Skipper Rohit Sharma and senior pro Virat Kohli, who have 76 international hundreds between them, decided to give game time to middle-order batters as India beat West Indies by five wickets in the opening ODI, riding on exploits from spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav.
After Jadeja (3/37 in 6 overs) and Kuldeep (4/6 in 4 overs) set it up beautifully, shooting out the Windies for 114 in 23 overs, Ishan Kishan helped himself to a half-century (52 off 46 balls) in India's successful chase in just 22.5 overs.
It is interesting to note that the pair of Kishan and Shubman Gill opened the innings for India in the paltry chase of 115 despite skipper Rohit also being available to bat.
After Gill fell, Suryakumar Yadav was sent in at number 3 with Virat Kohli staying in the dugout. Hardik Pandya came in at the fourth position while Ravindra Jadeja batted at the fifth position.