IND v WI, 2nd ODI: Avesh Khan makes ODI debut for India as West Indies win toss, elect to bat first

Port of Spain (Trinidad):  Avesh Khan makes his ODI debut for India as West Indies won the toss and elected to bat first in the second match of the series at Queen’s Park Oval on Sunday.

Sunday’s match is being played on the pitch which was used in the first ODI on Friday, which India won in a thrilling fashion by three runs.

After winning the toss, Pooran said leg-spinner Hayden Walsh Jr. comes in for left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie in the playing eleven. An official update from the West Indies team said Walsh Jr, originally a reserve player, was added to the ODI squad as Motie suffered a fractured thumb during Friday’s match.

“250 should be a challenging score. We need to hang in there, build partnerships and execute. We need to do the same thing over and over. Doesn’t matter if he (Shai Hope, playing his 100th ODI) scores on not because if he doesn’t someone else will. Hope he will enjoy it,” said Pooran.

India skipper Shikhar Dhawan said Avesh Khan is included into the playing eleven in place of pacer Prasidh Krishna. Avesh, who made his T20I debut earlier this year and has nine appearances in the shortest format of the game, has the ability to hit the hard lengths and extract bounce to trouble the batters on good batting pitches.

“It (the pitch) gets slower and offers some turn. After the last game’s experience, we wanted to bat first again. We gave few runs in the field, we need to work on that. 5-10% improvement in the bowling is also needed. That’s what we discussed. Siraj’s yorkers, Prasidh handling the pressure was impressive. We are well prepared and looking forward for a good game. I am sure we are going to do much better today,” stated Dhawan.

Playing XIs

India: Shubman Gill, Shikhar Dhawan (captain), Shreyas Iyer (vice-captain), Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Deepak Hooda, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj and Avesh Khan.

West Indies: Shai Hope, Kyle Mayers, Shamrah Brooks, Brandon King, Nicholas Pooran (captain), Rovman Powell, Romario Shepherd, Akeal Hosein, Hayden Walsh Jr. Alzarri Joseph and Jayden Seales

–IANS