Aakash Chopra picks his Indian XI for the 1st ODI vs West Indies; wants Suryakumar Yadav to bat at No. 6

Aakash Chopra has picked his preferred Indian XI for the first ODI against West Indies. The two teams will clash at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad, on Friday, July 22.

The Men in Blue will be without the services of quite a few of their first-team regulars. The likes of Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya have been rested for the series. While Shikhar Dhawan will be leading the side, Ravindra Jadeja will be his deputy.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra picked Dhawan and Ishan Kishan as his two openers, elaborating:

"The first question will be who will open? Shikhar Dhawan is the captain, he will open, there is no doubt about that. But who with Shikhar - Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad are there."

He added:

"I feel Ishan Kishan will open, neither will Ruturaj get a chance to make his ODI debut nor will they look towards Shubman Gill."

The former Indian opener picked Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson and Deepak Hooda to bat ahead of Suryakumar Yadav. Aakash Chopra reasoned:

"You have a lot of options at No. 3. I have given an opportunity to Shreyas Iyer in my team, he will be targeted slightly with bouncers. I am saying Sanju at No. 4, Hooda at No. 5 and SKY at No. 6."

Chopra explained:

"SKY at No. 6 is not ideal because he should bat higher than that but unfortunately he will probably not get that because they will say 'who can finish better?'"

With Pandya unavailable, Suryakumar Yadav might have to play the finisher's role in the ODI series against the Windies. The Indian team management could also consider playing the Mumbai Indians batter at his customary No. 5 spot and sending Hooda after him.

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"I will definitely go with two spinners" - Aakash Chopra

Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravindra Jadeja are likely to be India's two spinners

Aakash Chopra picked three seamers and two spinners in his bowling attack. He said:

"After that, Ravindra Jadeja and Yuzi [Yuzvendra] Chahal. I will definitely go with two spinners. And then three fast bowlers, the ones I am picking in my team are Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur."

The renowned commentator also explained why Shardul Thakur should play ahead of Avesh Khan and Arshdeep Singh. Chopra observed:

"I am going with Shardul Thakur at No. 8 because it is necessary for Lord Thakur to play. You have kept him in the team and you will play him some time. I think this is his opportunity, the batting also gets lengthened slightly."

Aakash Chopra's Indian XI for the 1st ODI: Shikhar Dhawan, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj.