That's it. The inevitable has happened. The match has been called off due to incessant rains.
RAIN! RAIN! The covers are coming back on as the players hurry back to the dressing room. WI 54/1 after 13 overs.
WICKET! Kuldeep has got rid of the danger man Chris Gayle... the pressure of dot balls takes toll as the big Jamaican drags an inside edge on to his stumps. WI 42/1 after 10.1 overs.
Evin Lewis got a move on in Khaleel's first over, collecting 15 runs from it. There's a sense of urgency in Lewis' approach. Meanwhile, leg-spinner Kuldeep Yadav has been introduced into the attack. It was a good start from the chinaman bowler, who conceded just one. WI 42/0 after 10 overs.
The players, once again, take the field. Out come the openers. We have lost 76 minutes of play, points out Murali Karthik on air. Shami all set to bowl the final two deliveries of his third over. 1 run from the over. WI 9/0 after 6 overs.
Further reduction in overs. It will now be 34 overs a side. Match to resume in 10 minues.
Another inspection... gaaah! This one's in another 10 minutes and if the umpires are convinced about the outfield, we could start 10 minutes later.
There will be an inspection in 10 minutes and if the conditions are conducive, play might start by 10:23 PM.
It's now been reduced to a 40 overs a side. Play expected to resume in about nine minutes. Players are back on the field. We are all set for the action to start again. There are some damp spots on the outfield and the groundstaff is busy attending to them. The players and the umpires are going off again! Looks like those wet patches will take a while to dry
And the rains have arrived... the players are going off as the covers come back on. The showers have relented, the sun's out and the covers are coming off.
Bhuvi slips in yet another tight over: nearly a maiden before Gayle hares to the non-striker's end for a quick single. Shami starts the next over with an inch-perfect yorker. Four runs from the over. WI 7/0 after 4 overs.
Md. Shami to share the new ball. Lewis on strike. Two slips for Shami. He's bowling round the wicket straightaway. The ball's keeping low so far. Streaky single for Lewis to open his account. Meanwhile, still no run for Gayle. First runs for the big Jamaican... a single. WI 2/0 after 2 overs.
Out come the West Indian openers Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis. Gayle is 13 away from overtaking Brian Lara's tally (10405) of most ODI runs by a West Indies batsman. Bhuvi with the new ball. He starts off with a maiden. WI 0/0 after 1 over.
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TOSS UPDATE: Kohli has won the toss and India will bowl.
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w), Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, K Khaleel Ahmed
West Indies (Playing XI): Evin Lewis, Chris Gayle, Shai Hope(w), Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Roston Chase, Jason Holder(c), Carlos Brathwaite, Fabian Allen, Sheldon Cottrell, Kemar Roach
JUST IN: The toss will take place at 8:30 PM IST. It will be a 43-overs per-side game. Match to start at 9:00 PM IST.
Bad news! The drizzle has returned in Guyana and the covers are back on.
WEATHER UPDATE: It has stopped raining and the sun's out, with the groundsmen busy doing their work.
WEATHER UPDATE: It's raining heavily in Guyana at the moment and the covers are firmly in place.
They say that there is a rift between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Some 35 years ago, the same was said about Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev! | Kohli-Rohit rift stories won't stop even 20 years later
PREVIEW
With an air of invincibility, India returns to the format that gave it a heartbreak in the not-too-distant past, facing West Indies in the first of three-match ODI series on Thursday.
Shikhar Dhawan makes a comeback in the format where he has been India’s third best player after skipper Virat Kohli and his deputy Rohit Sharma.
With 17 hundreds in 130 ODIs, Dhawan will rightfully take his place at the top of the order alongside Rohit and like the initial matches of the World Cup, KL Rahul is likely to go back to being the number four batsman.
READ: Rahul Chahar picks one wicket on debut
With Kedar Jadhav expected to come in at No 5 or 6 depending on how Rishabh Pant is used as a floater, it will be a toss up between Manish Pandey and Shreyas Iyer for the remaining middle-order slots.
Both are players with a certain amount of flair but Pandey couldn’t exactly seal it in the T20 Internationals and it’s about time that the team management would think of giving Iyer a go and see how it pans out.
With Bhuvneshwar Kumar playing three T20 Internationals in a week across two countries, he will probably get to cool his heels with Mohammed Shami leading the attack and Navdeep saini making his ODI debut.
Entering the 2019 ICC World Cup as firm favourite, India’s hopes were dashed following its semifinal defeat to a New Zealand outfit, which raised its game to another level.
However, Virat Kohli’s men regrouped and quickly regained their mojo, effecting a 3-0 whitewash of West Indies in the just-concluded three-match T20 series.
READ: Chahar, Pant shine as India completes 3-0 series sweep
The World Cup disappointment will continue to linger but Kohli will fancy his team’s chances in the series, notwithstanding the return of the swashbuckling Chris Gayle.
Because, apart from a handful of options in bowling, India also has quite a few swashbucklers of its own.
To start with, Rohit Sharma will look to continue his golden run with the bat in the 50-over format, having caressed his way to a record five centuries at the showpiece in the United Kingdom.
No less daunting a prospect for the West Indies bowlers will be Rohit’s opening partner, Shikhar Dhawan, whose World Cup campaign was cut short by a finger injury following a fine hundred against Australia.
Kohli, who also enjoyed a great run in the mega-event, will not be short on motivation despite the lack of world beaters in the opposition camp. The batting mainstay is also aware that a section of former players raised question mark around his captaincy in the limited overs format.
It pained him that one bad outing, after a dominant run, put paid to his team’s hopes in the World Cup.
While the stage in the Caribbean islands is no match to the one at the World Cup, Kohli will still be too pleased with a commanding performance by his team.
READ: Rishabh is the future and we need to give him space, says Kohli
Runs and wickets from the likes of young Rishabh Pant and Krunal Pandya have left the captain impressed, and hopeful of a bright future. Krunal was named Man of the Series for his all-round exploits in the T20s.
Thoroughly outplayed in the shortest format, West Indies will hope the return of the talismanic Gayle bolsters the side. Gayle, during the World Cup, had announced that the home series against India will be his last.
Left-handed opener John Campbell, Roston Chase and all-rounder Keemo Paul have all been recalled to the 14-member squad for the matches which will be contested at the Guyana National Stadium on Thursday, and on August 11 and 14 at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad.
The toss is scheduled for 6:30pm. Stay tuned.
Hello and welcome to Sportstar's live coverage of the first One-Day International between India and the West Indies.
The match can be streamed live on SonyLIV and the SonyLIV app.
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