Rohit Sharma has asked his players to "focus on the colour blue" after the IPL payday © BCCI
"It was understood the guys will go through emotional ups and downs, about which team they are going to play (in the IPL). That was done the day before. Yesterday we had a great meeting and asked the players to focus on the colour blue."

That was Rohit Sharma responding to the emotions the players felt having had huge paydays in the IPL auction ahead of the T20I series against West Indies. Ishan Kishan, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Shardul Thakur and Avesh Khan were picked at handsome sums to reward their past performances in the tournament. But Rohit was quick to stress to his players that "the IPL auction is done and dusted. Focus on the colour blue right now."

With several key players either out injured or rested, India are looking to give enough game time to the fringe players to help them build for the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia later this year. However, Rohit acknowledged the team isn't looking to experiment a lot and the players have already been given clarity about the roles they are expected to play in the world tournament. From now on, the focus is set to be on execution and planning to right the wrongs of the last T20 World Cup.

Batting let West Indies down in the ODI series but a condensed format not only gives the batters more freedom but also, in many ways, puts them in their comfort zone. West Indies sealed the five-match T20I series against England 3-2 to serve a reminder that they are always going to be serious contenders in the T20 format - despite their disastrous campaign in UAE. The side has had to deal with off-field issues - the controversy regarding dropping Odean Smith - but they still managed to find a complete performance just when it mattered.

West Indies's 0-3 loss should necessarily mean they will be pushovers in the T20I series as well. West Indies, in the series against England, struck more sixes than the visitors but also found better ways to rotate the strikes and reduce the number of dot balls. That, in a way, was their way of moving away from the high-risk template but it was more about them finding ways to improve on the weakness that had been exposed in the T20 World Cup.

What: India vs West Indies, 1st T20I, 7pm IST

Where: Eden Gardens, Kolkata

What to expect: Both teams didn't have to deal with the dew factor in Ahmedabad but it'll play a role in Kolkata. Both captains can be expected to chase in case the coin falls in their favour.

Head to Head: India 10 - 6 West Indies (One no result)

Team news:

India

Injured/Unavailable: KL Rahul, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar have been ruled out of the series because of injuries. Kuldeep Yadav has been included in place of Washington.

Tactics & Matchups: Rohit and the think tank have a selection conundrum. With Rahul out of the series, one of Kishan or Ruturaj Gaikwad will partner Rohit at the top. Thakur, Chahar, Harshal and Venkatesh Iyer add depth to the batting line up and if the management decides to stick to Venkatesh, then there's room for only one of Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer.

Probable XI: Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav/Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal.

West Indies

Injured/Unavailable: Kieron Pollard should be back in the mix having missed two ODIs.

Tactics & Matchups: Early wickets were one of the reasons West Indies couldn't quite nail the ODIs. Rohit will bank on Chahar and Siraj once again and that's where the onus will be on Brandon King and Kyle Mayers to put the Indian pacers under pressure. With the dew settling in, West Indies could also look to attack Chahal.

Probable XI: Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Rovman Powell, Kieron Pollard (c), Jason Holder, Fabian Allen, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Akeal Hosein, Sheldon Cottrell/Dominic Drakes.

What they said:

"I feel the word experimentation is overrated in my terms. We are trying to find those holes that are there in the squad and try and fill that gap. So whatever it takes, we will try and do that. All these guys are very young and haven't played a lot of cricket. We need to give them the assurity and the game time. Once we have that, then we can try out things. Till then, whatever little holes we have in our squad, we have to try and fill that" - Rohit Sharma.

"We are pretty confident. Where we came from - against England - it shows the guys have the desire to do well. To be able to come out on top should also give the guys confidence coming into this series. The guys are looking forward to the challenge of scoring runs on these pitches where it's conducive for strokeplay especially from a T20 perspective" - Kieron Pollard.