Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], October 1 : India Test skipper Shubman Gill confirmed that the playing XI has not been decided yet for the first match of the series against the West Indies. He further stated the line-up will be decided tomorrow morning after seeing how much moisture is on the pitch.
Team India will lock horns with West Indies in the two-match Test series starting from Thursday, October 2, at the iconic Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The pitch initially appears lush green, which helps the fast bowlers early on. Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Gill told the media that there is a chance the team could opt for three seamers if the pitch is conducive to bowling.
Speaking to the reporters one day before the match, Gill said, "You will get to know our playing XI combination tomorrow. Given the current weather conditions, we would be tempted to have a third seam option, but I think there is still some time in the Test. Once we arrive tomorrow morning and assess the moisture level on the pitch, we will make a decision."
Further speaking on the approach of playing in the upcoming Test series, the right-hand middle-order batter added, "We are looking to play some hard, grinding cricket. If you look at the past few years, the Test match in India doesn't really go up to five days, so we are looking to play some hard cricket. All the Test matches in England went pretty deep. We won't be looking for any easy out options, and we have got the skill set to play on any kind of wicket and in any situation. The kind of talent we have in the team, we can turn around from any situation, so that's how we will be looking to play."
In the end, the Punjab-born cricketer said that every series is important for the side, whether it is being played at the home venue or overseas.
"Every series is important. We are playing in India after almost one year. Any series we play anywhere in the world is as important as any series. We will be looking to dominate in this series like any other series or any other match that we play," the 26-year-old concluded.
Squads:
India Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), N Jagadeesan, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Kumar Reddy
West Indies Squad: John Campbell, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Alick Athanaze, Brandon King, Roston Chase (c), Shai Hope (wk), Justin Greaves, Khary Pierre, Johann Layne, Anderson Phillip, Jayden Seales, Jomel Warrican, Jediah Blades, Kevlon Anderson, Tevin Imlach.