Cricket-West Indies win toss and opt to bat in first India test

Oct 2 (Reuters) – West Indies captain Roston Chase won the toss and elected to bat against India in the opening test of their two-match series that gets underway in Ahmedabad on Thursday. Thrashed 3-0 by Australia on home soil in July, West Indies are missing injured fast bowlers Shamar Joseph and Alzarri Joseph for their first tour of India in seven years. "There's lots of moisture but we'll probably battle that and it looks like its going to be a good wicket," Chase said. "We don't want to be batting last on this wicket because we know it tends to spin in the fourth innings." India are playing their first test at home under captain Shubman Gill after the retirements of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin. They will be looking to banish memories of their last home series when they lost 3-0 to New Zealand late last year. World Test Championship points are at stake in the two matches in Ahmedabad and New Delhi, with India gunning for a third final in the competition in 2027 after finishing runners-up in 2021 and 2023. India have selected pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah despite his workload being managed this year due to back problems. The 31-year-old played in only three of the five tests in the team's tied 2-2 series in England during the summer. (Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford )

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