After dominating West Indies in the two-match Test series, Team India’s focus now shifts towards white-ball cricket. The Men in Blue will take on West Indies in three ODIs and five T20Is.

The 50-over series is due to get underway on July 27 in Barbados. Ahead of the first ODI, former India opener Wasim Jaffer shares his playing XI for the Indian team and preferred Sanju Samson over Ishan Kishan as wicketkeeper-batter.

As expected, Jaffer picked skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill to open the innings followed by Virat Kohli. He slotted Samson at No. 4 ahead of middle-order batters Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya.

According to Jaffer, Ravindra Jadeja and Akshar Patel will be India's spin-bowling all-rounders while Kuldeep Yadav featured in his XI as a premier spinner.

Mohammed Siraj and Umran Malik are the two fast bowlers in his line-up besides Hardik’s absence as a seam-bowling all-rounder.

In the absence of injured KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant, Samson is one of two wicketkeepers picked by India alongside Kishan.

Once hailed as a prodigious talent, Samson made his India debut in 2015 at the age of 21. For the next five years, he was overlooked in the national side before he finally earned a call-up in 2020. As of today, the Kerala lad has represented India in 11 ODIs, scoring 330 runs at an average of 66 with three half-centuries.

Wasim Jaffer's India XI for the first ODI vs West Indies:

Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik