Is KL Rahul playing in today’s first T20I between West Indies and India?

Is KL Rahul playing in today’s first T20I: India captain Virat Kohli has won the toss and chose to field at Lauderhill tonight.

During the first T20I of India’s tour of West Indies at Lauderhill, India captain Virat Kohli won the toss and chose to field. Considering the fact that teams batting first have won six out of seven times at the given venue, it sounded as a surprising decision from Kohli.

“We will bowl first. This wicket has been under covers so there might be a bit of moisture and it’s gonna get flatter with more sun on it. It is always good to get on the park. We are pretty fine now [post the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019].

“Had a good exciting fielding session the day before and everyone is excited to take the field now. Look the priority will always be winning but in that process you need to try out combinations and trust your players and expect them to perform under pressure, that’s what international cricket is all about,” Kohli was quoted as saying at the toss.

Is KL Rahul playing in today’s first T20I

Among the Indian team’s combination, India have handed debut to Delhi and Royal Challengers Bangalore fast bowler Navdeep Saini. All-rounder Washington Sundar has been included in place of leg-spinner Rahul Chahar.

The biggest decision regarding the middle-order batsman was made in favour of Karnataka and Sunrisers Hyderabad batsman Manish Pandey. The fact that Pandey got the nod over the likes of Lokesh Rahul and Shreyas Iyer was another intriguing decision which the Indian team management made. It is worth mentioning that Rahul has scored a T20I century against West Indies at the same venue.

“We would have bowled first too because of the same reasons. There might be a bit in it for the first few overs. We have to see that tough period out and have enough wickets for the back-end of the innings. We are building, looking forward to the T20 World Cup. Hopefully, we will peak in the T20 World Cup obviously with the emphasis of winning each series,” West Indies captain Carlos Brathwaite was quoted as saying.