WI vs IND: Why is Axar Patel Not Playing India vs West Indies 1st ODI? Check IND Playing XI

India are not playing their premier spin bowling all-rounder Axar Patel in the first of the three-match ODI series against West Indies taking place at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados. India recently beat West Indies at home by 1-0 margin in the two-match Test series and now, the visitors will be looking forward to choose their best possible combination for this year’s ODI World Cup scheduled to be played at home.

WI vs IND: Why is Axar Patel Not Playing India vs West Indies 1st ODI?

During the toss, it was revealed that left-arm spinner Axar Patel has not been included in the India Playing XI for the IND vs WI 1st ODI match. Going as per the expected lines, India have once again gone ahead with the experienced left-arm spin bowling all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav as the second spinner. Incidentally Axar performed really well both with the bat and ball during the last ODI series in West Indies. While representing India in 51 ODI matches so far, the southpaw has scored 412 runs at a wonderful strike-rate of over 104 that includes a couple of half-centuries as well. The left-arm spinner has picked up as many as 58 wickets at a fine economy of under 5.

“We are gonna field first, no particular reason. We are gonna try a few different things. We want to head into the World Cup with a clear mindset. For us, the results are also important. At times, we are going to try out different players but we don’t want to compromise on our results. All cricketers around the world who are playing all formats need to adapt well. Hopefully, we can get what we want here. We have got four seamers and two spinners,” said India captain Rohit Sharma during the toss.

India Playing 11

1. Rohit Sharma (C)
2. Shubman Gill
3. Virat Kohli
4. Suryakumar Yadav
5. Ishan Kishan (wk)
6. Hardik Pandya
7. Ravindra Jadeja
8. Shardul Thakur
9. Kuldeep Yadav
10. Mukesh Kumar
11. Umran Malik

WI vs IND 2023 Schedule