India won the toss and elected to bat first against the West Indies in the winner-takes-all fifth and final T20I match at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, here on Sunday.
While India retained the same playing XI that did duty in the fourth match, the West Indies made two changes with Alzarri Joseph coming in for Obed McCoy and Roston Chase replacing Odean Smith as Rovman Powell’s side is looking for an extra spin option.
After winning the toss, India skipper Hardik Pandya said: “We will bat first. Always feel, we should challenge ourselves. It was a good track. It played better than last year. You need to be courageous on these types of wickets. Arsh has a big heart. Even if you can make a good comeback even in the last two balls, it makes a difference.
“Happy to bowl first. We have been struggling a little. But back-to-back wins put a smile on the faces of our people. I think it is a good surface. You just need to have plans for different batters. We just sat down and tried to come up with our best combination. Joseph, our premier bowler is back for McCoy,” said Windies skipper Powell.
Playing XIs:
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Sanju Samson (wk), Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mukesh Kumar
West Indies: Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Shai Hope, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Rovman Powell (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Roston Chase, Romario Shepherd, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph