India vs West Indies 1st ODI, 27 September 2026: Thiruvananthapuram Match Preview, Squads, Probable XI, Schedule
India begin their home season against the West Indies with the first ODI on Sunday 27 September 2026 at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram. It is the first of three ODIs and five T20Is on a tour that runs from 27 September to 17 October. “IND vs WI” was among the top searches on Google Trends India on 26 September.
Prepared on Saturday, 26 September 2026, 9:59 PM IST. The date is read from our publishing system’s clock. Facts are as reported by the sources listed below at that time and may have changed since.
India vs West Indies, 1st ODI at a glance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Date | Sunday, 27 September 2026 |
| Venue | Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram |
| Scheduled start | 2:00 PM IST (day/night match), as per the fixture list |
| Captains | Shubman Gill (India, ODIs); Shai Hope (West Indies) |
| Umpires | Jayaraman Madanagopal (India) and Sam Nogajski (Australia) |
| Form (last five completed ODIs, most recent first) | India LLWWW; West Indies WLLLW (Cricinfo) |
| Weather | Cricinfo says the threat of rain in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday is minimal |
Full series schedule
| Match | Date | Venue | Start |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st ODI | Sun 27 Sep | Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | 2:00 PM |
| 2nd ODI | Wed 30 Sep | Assam Cricket Association Stadium, Guwahati | 2:00 PM |
| 3rd ODI | Sat 3 Oct | Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur | 2:00 PM |
| 1st T20I | Tue 6 Oct | Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow | 7:00 PM |
| 2nd T20I | Fri 9 Oct | JSCA International Stadium, Ranchi | 7:00 PM |
| 3rd T20I | Sun 11 Oct | Holkar Stadium, Indore | 7:00 PM |
| 4th T20I | Wed 14 Oct | Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad | 7:00 PM |
| 5th T20I | Sat 17 Oct | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru | 7:00 PM |
Shreyas Iyer captains India in the T20Is. Times are as listed on the fixture list and are in IST.
Big picture: the road to the 2027 ODI World Cup
Cricinfo’s preview says every series now is about the 2027 ODI World Cup. India have played three ODI series this year and lost two of them. They are once again without Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and Shreyas Iyer, and several first-choice players, including Iyer and Axar Patel, are with the T20I side at the Asian Games. West Indies have to go through the World Cup Qualifier for the third successive time. West Indies have not won a bilateral 50-over series against India since 2006, and not in India since 2002.
Squads
| ODI squad | |
|---|---|
| India | Shubman Gill (c), KL Rahul (vc, wk), Gurnoor Brar, Naman Dhir, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Virat Kohli, Prasidh Krishna, Auqib Nabi, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav |
| West Indies | Shai Hope (c, wk), Jewel Andrew (wk), John Campbell, Keacy Carty, Roston Chase, Matthew Forde, Justin Greaves, Amir Jangoo (wk), Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Vitel Lawes, Gudakesh Motie, Keemo Paul, Sherfane Rutherford, Jayden Seales |
Probable XIs (Cricinfo)
- India: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (c), Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir or Gurnoor Brar or Auqib Nabi, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj.
- West Indies: John Campbell, Justin Greaves, Keacy Carty, Shai Hope (c, wk), Sherfane Rutherford, Roston Chase, Matthew Forde, Gudakesh Motie, Jayden Seales or Shamar Joseph, Alzarri Joseph, Vitel Lawes.
- Team news: Gill is fit after taking a blow to the elbow in the nets. If India think Reddy can bowl 10 overs they may go batting-heavy and give Naman Dhir a debut; otherwise Brar stays or Nabi could debut. John Campbell returns to the top of the West Indies order after surgery.
Players to watch
- Virat Kohli is 59 runs short of 15,000 ODI runs and averages 66.50 against West Indies, so history could be made in Thiruvananthapuram. In six matches in 2026 his strike rate is 106.66.
- Alzarri Joseph returns fresh from a CPL title win. Earlier this year he and coach Daren Sammy had a public falling out over his omission from two Tests against Pakistan; Joseph said: “I’m a professional, so I’m going to go to work.”
- Shai Hope has scored 1,350 runs at an average of 50 and strike rate of 92.91 since the last World Cup, the best record for a middle-order batter in that period.
- Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav could matter most: West Indies average 28.09 against spin since the last World Cup, and only Zimbabwe (24.12) are worse among the traditional ODI teams.
Pitch and numbers
- Greenfield has hosted two previous ODIs and has the third-best bowling average (25.35) for seamers in India. West Indies were bowled out for 104 here in 2018, with Jadeja taking four wickets.
- India have scored at 6.08 runs per over since the last World Cup, second only to England’s 6.17, while averaging 39.25 per wicket. Their top three average 53.34 in that period against 29.35 for West Indies’ top three.
Frequently asked questions
When and where is India vs West Indies 1st ODI?
On Sunday 27 September 2026, scheduled for 2:00 PM IST at the Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram.
Who is India’s captain?
Shubman Gill leads India in the ODIs. Shreyas Iyer captains the T20I squad.
Is Virat Kohli playing?
Yes, Kohli and Rohit Sharma are both in the India ODI squad and in Cricinfo’s probable XI. Kohli is 59 runs short of 15,000 ODI runs.
Will rain affect the match?
Cricinfo says the threat of rain in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday is minimal, but please check the latest forecast on match day.
Sources
- ESPNcricinfo: West Indies’ long route to 2027 ODI World Cup starts in India (match preview, 26 Sep 2026)
- Wikipedia: West Indian cricket team in India in 2026–27 (fixtures, squads, umpires)
