Hardik Pandya is leading India in the third ODI against West Indies in Trinidad on Tuesday (August 1) as the team management decided to rest regular skipper Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli for the second time in a row in this series.

The three-match series is level at 1-1 and the Men in Blue are looking to avoid their first series defeat to the West Indies in the 50-over format since 2006.

In the all-important fixture, the hosts won the toss and opted to field first. During the toss, former West Indies cricketer-turned-commentator Daren Ganga reminded Hardik that no Indian captain has been on the losing side in an ODI series against the Caribbean side since 2006.

Ganga said: “India have won 12 straight bilateral ODI series vs West Indies. You don't want to be that captain to break the trend, right?”

Pandya came with up an interesting response as he said: “It's okay. I like to be unique.”

Speaking at the toss, Hardik said that India see batting first as a good opportunity to pile up a big total on the board.

“Two changes for us. Ruturaj comes in place of Umran and Unadkat comes in place of Akshar. Going to the decider the boys are pumped up and looking forward to the game. Looks good (the surface), I don't think much will change, batting first gives a good opportunity for us to set a good total,” the stand-in India captain stated.

India’s playing XI for third ODI: Ishan Kishan(w), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya(c), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar