WI vs IND 1st ODI preview: West Indies looks to take advantage of India's missing stalwarts

"Right now, he (Jadeja) has a bit of a niggle so we don't know whether he will be ready or not for the first ODI," Dhawan said in the prematch conference.

For India, in the absence of senior pros, players who have been on the fringe in ODIs would want to leave their mark. Watch out for Ruturaj Gaikwad, Deepak Hooda, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill and Arshdeep Singh.

West Indies on their part would want to shed their habit of treating 50-over cricket like T20s and at least bat out the full quota of 50 overs to stay relevant in the contest.

"We have to bat out 50 overs and we have to put innings, and partnerships together. Somebody always has to be looking to score a hundred to hold the team together. I think we have batsmen who can bat, and bat for long periods." said head coach Phil Simmons.

To lend balance and experience to the team, West Indies have recalled former captain Jason Holder. The all-rounder was not part of the West Indies squad that played against Bangladesh. Holder's captaincy experience should also help skipper Nicholas Pooran who is in the early days of his captaincy reign.

Other key players for the West Indies will be Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph and Rovman Powell.

West Indies: L-L-L-L-L

India: W-L-W-W-W

India possible XI: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan.

West Indies possible XI: Nicholas Pooran (c), Shai Hope (wk), Shamarh Brooks, Keacy Carty, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Gudakesh Motie, Keemo Paul, Rovman Powell, Jayden Seales.

Shikhar Dhawan:

With Rohit Sharma rested for the ODI series, senior opener Shikhar Dhawan has been made the captain of the Indian team. The 36-year-old is the senior-most batsman in the squad and will be expected to give India a solid start at the top of the order. Dhawan, who now only features in India's ODI teams, had a poor series against England managing scores of 1, 9 and 31 in his three outings.

Shai Hope is the vice-captain of the ODI team. The wicketkeeper-batsman is the only West Indian to be ranked in the Top 20 in the ICC men's ODI batting rankings. Hope, who ranks 13th, had a disappointing ODI series against Bangladesh — he could only manage scores of 0, 18 and 2. But Hope's recent scores could mean little against India. The 28-year-old likes playing against India. Hope has scored 733 runs against the visitors in 19 innings, and averages 45.81. This includes four fifties and two hundreds. Indian bowlers will have to be careful against Hope

Expect a good hard batting pitch for the series opener.

There are chances of rain ahead and during the course of the match. It had rained at Queen's Park Oval ahead of the series opener which forced the  Indian cricket team to train indoors.

Where to watch:

The match starts at 7.00 PM IST and it will be streamed live on the FanCode app.