India Achieve Mammoth Feat In T20I Cricket, Join Pakistan In Elite List

The Indian cricket team became the second international side ever to play 200 T20I matches when they took the field against West Indies in the first game of the five-match series in Tarouba on Thursday. Only Pakistan (223) have played more T20I matches than India. The Hardik Pandya-led side is full of confidence after beating West Indies 2-1 in the ODI series with openers Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill enjoying a good run of form. When it comes to the bowlers, Shardul Thakur and Kuldeep Yadav impressed while Hardik emerged as a new-ball bowling option.

West Indies won the toss and opted to bat in the first T20 against India on Thursday.

Young batter Tilak Varma was handed his debut India cap while pacer Mukesh Kumar will be playing his maiden T20I after making his Test and ODI debut earlier on the tour.

"That was the whole plan for this tour as well. We might be coming here to play the World Cup. Some players might get a chance to play here. By the time we come here next time, we'll be prepared. I try to keep things simple. For me it's about improving. I focus on processes. You might have some losses and failures, I am okay with it. It's all about challenging ourselves. Umran, Bishnoi miss out. We are playing three spinners," Pandya said at toss.

"We are gonna bat. Looks like a dry surface. India are playing a lot of spinners, let's see how we cope against them. The guys are confident. It's not a complete change in strategy. We are still boundary hitters, we are trying to run hard. We have gone with our strengths," WI skipper Rovman Powell said.

India: Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan (w), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar.

W