TAROUBA: West Indies skipper Rovman Powel won the toss and elected to bat first against India in the first T20I of the five-match series at Brian Lara Stadium, here on Thursday.

For India, batter Tilak Verma and right-arm seamer Mukesh are making their T20I debut.

After winning the toss, Windies captain Powel said: "Looks like a dry surface. India are playing a lot of spinners, let's see how we cope against them. The guys are confident. It's not a complete change in strategy. We are still boundary hitters, we are trying to run hard. We have gone with our strengths."

On the other hand, India skipper Hardik Pandya said: "The plan for this tour was to play a team while looking ahead to next year's T20 World Cup. Some players might get a chance to play here."

"By the time we come here next time, we'll be prepared. I try to keep things simple. For me it's about improving. I focus on processes. You might have some losses and failures, I am okay with it. It's all about challenging ourselves. Umran, Bishnoi miss out. We are playing three spinners," he added.

Playing XIs:

India: Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar

West Indies: Kyle Mayers, Brandon King, Johnson Charles(w), Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell(c), Jason Holder, Romario Shepherd, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Obed McCoy