West Indies chose to bowl v Afghanistan
In the first-ever Test match at the Ekana Cricket Stadium, West Indies captain Jason Holder opted to bowl after winning the toss, citing early moisture in the surface.
However, the only other fast bowler in the West Indies XI apart from Holder is Kemar Roach. Since the match is being played on a red-soil pitch that is expected to aide spin, they included left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican alongside offspinning options in Rahkeem Cornwall and Roston Chase.
Rashid Khan though said he was happy to bat first. Afghanistan handed debuts to middle-order batsman Nasir Jamal and left-arm spinner Amir Hamza, who last played an international game in June 2017.
The conditions were a bit hazy in Lucknow at the time of the toss, but there is a provision to switch on the floodlights after 2.30pm.
Afghanistan: 1 Ibrahim Zadran, 2 Ihsanullah, 3 Rahmat Shah, 4 Javed Ahmadi, 5 Asghar Afghan, Nasir Jamal, 6 Afsar Zazai (wk), 8 Rashid Khan (capt), 9 Amir Hamza, 10 Yamin Ahmadzai, 11 Zahir Khan
West Indies: 1 Kraigg Brathwaite, 2 John Campbell, 3 Shai Hope, 4 Shamarh Brooks, 5 Roston Chase, 6 Shimron Hetmyer, 7 Jason Holder (capt), 8 Shane Dowrich (wk), 9 Rahkeem Cornwall, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Jomel Warrican
Source: ESPN Crickinfo