USA silence Wankhede after winning toss; India 77/6; Sanju not playing

Sanju Samson and Jasprit Bumrah are not part of the India XI in their T20 World Cup opener against the United States of America for different reasons. Monank Patel won the toss and decided to bowl.

How's it going? --- India 94/6 in 15 overs
Ali Khan dealt a major blow in the second over to remove Abhishek Sharma for a first-ball duck. The field placement did the trick as Sharma's trademark back-foot punch was claimed by Krishnamurthi at cover.

India were still doing alright until Shadley van Schalkwyk claimed three wickets in the final over of powerplay to leave the holders reeling at 46/4.

Kishan was the first to go. He had struggled to find his usual rhythm, but had flicked a six in the previous over. But van Schalkwyk got him with a teasing delivery that was asking to be driven. The left-hander had got lucky with a dropped catch at point in the previous over, but he could not clear the catcher, Milind Kumar, at mid off.

But that was just the start, as Tilak Varma, who was doing alright, was beaten by bounce and gave an easy catch to Patel at midwicket. Just before the Wankhede crowd could get an idea of what was happening, India lost another as Shivam Dube went back for duck, failing to read a slow delivery, caught by Netravalkar.

Just after their brilliant start, the USA got a little sloppy in the field, dropping catches and giving away boundaries. Shubham Ranjane dropped a return catch from skipper Suryakumar Yadav, who was deceived by the slowness of the surface. That was the 10th over and a couple of deliveries before that, the Indian skipper went over mid off to get a boundary, ending a 27-ball drought, an unthinkable proposition for an Indian team at home, let alone on any ground in the world.

But Mohammad Mohsin returned to strike, removing Rinku Singh (6), who thought he had enough power in the shot but not quite to beat Milind Kumar at long off. India were 73/5 in 12 overs.

But wait a minute, the USA weren't done yet. Mr Dependable, Hardik Pandya, walked in and skipped down the pitch to fetch a boundary, but Harmeet Singh's spin and the grippy surface provided the perfect recipe for a miscued shot. Pandya was back in the dugout for 5 off 6, caught by Mukkamalla at deep cover. India: 77/6 in 12.4 overs

Team news
Earlier, India captain Suryakumar Yadav confirmed the absentees -- Washington Sundar, Sanju and Bumrah. While Sundar has been injured for some time, Bumrah is 'unfortunately not well'. But Sanju is absent because he has been dropped.

Mohammed Siraj, who replaced the injured Harshit Rana in the squad on the eve of the event, will play in the place of Bumrah. But there was no need for Surya to say who would play in Sanju's place.

It had become quite clear in recent weeks that Ishan Kishan was set to partner Abhishek Sharma in the opening department. Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel are the two spinners, while Arshdeep Singh and Siraj will handle pace.

Playing XIs:
India: Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Varun Chakravarthy

USA: Saiteja Mukkamalla, Andries Gous (wk), Monank Patel (capt), Milind Kumar, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Harmeet Singh, Shubham Ranjane, Mohammad Mohsin, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Saurabh Netravalkar, Ali Khan