In a video on YouTube shared by veteran sports journalist Vimal Kumar on his channel, Benjamin says he has contacted well-known cricket figures in India to help the issue.
Benjamin, who represented the West indies in 21 tests and 81 ODIs between 1986 and 1995, says doesn’t need financial donations; he is happy to receive something as simple as cricket bats or other equipment that he can help distribute to aspiring players in the area.
“Previously, we used to have a tournament in Sharjah where it used to be like a benefit game for players from different countries. I don’t want benefits. All I want is for somebody to say ‘here is some equipment’ – 10-15 bats, that is good enough for me. I don’t want 20000 US dollars. I just want some equipment so that I can give back to youngsters. That’s all I am asking.”
Benjamin also asked Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar while thanking former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin.
“Mr. Tendulkar if you are in a position, could you assist me? Hit me up,” he said.
“I would like to thank my good friend Mohammad Azharuddin. He sent me some equipment over. Azhar, congratulations! And thank you so much for that assistance. Stay in touch. Anyone else who wants to contribute, feel free,” Benjamin added.
Questions were raised over the location of the Test amid reports players would be forced into a hard quarantine and after Brisbane went into a three-day lockdown.
But with restrictions easing, the Test is set to go ahead as planned, beginning on Friday.
Cricket Australia interim chief executive officer Nick Hockley told SEN on Monday: "I had a call last night from the BCCI [Board of Control for Cricket in India] secretary, very late last night, and he confirmed that we are good to travel to Brisbane on Tuesday."
Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk also confirmed the Test was set to be played.
"Fingers crossed, it looks like everything is going ahead," she told a news conference.
"The Gabba will be filled to half the capacity and masks are mandatory for entering and for leaving and moving around the stadium, but if you're sitting there at your seat, you will not need to wear your mask because you are outside.
"If you're going along to the cricket, take your mask, put it on, most people will be coming by public transport anyway where you'll have to wear your mask."
The news came as Australia were attempting to take a 2-1 series lead to Brisbane as they closed in on victory in Sydney.
India were crowned T20 World Cup champions last month, with Rahul Dravid bowing out of his time in charge on a high.
Dravid was head coach for two-and-a-half years, leading them to the finals of a world event in each of the three formats.
Gambhir's tenure begins on July 27 with India's white-ball tour of Sri Lanka, as the 42-year-old steps into his first head coaching job, having previously worked as a mentor for Indian Premier League sides, Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants.
Gambhir admitted he did not want to make too many changes given India's recent success and believes the key to that is to start by building trust.
"It is very simple," Gambhir said in his first interview as head coach, "it is important to give players freedom - that's what I believe in - and not have a relationship of a head coach and a player.
"The best relationship is one built on trust. The most important thing is they'll always have my backing.
"I don't complicate too many things. I am taking over a very, very successful team - India are T20 world champions, have been runners-up in the World Test Championship and the 50-overs World Cup."
As a player, Gambhir enjoyed a 13-year career which saw him win the World Cup in 2007 and 2011.
Despite not having a lot of coaching experience behind him, Gambhir knows what it takes to win in big moments.
"My learning has been simple - it has been all about winning," he added.
"I don't deviate from something. We are in a profession where there can be only one winner. We try and play fair, we try and play hard, and try and come back in a winning dressing room and a happy dressing room.
"A happy dressing room is a winning dressing room. Ultimately, it is the players' team. The support staff is there to try and get the maximum out of their potential.
"Sometimes international cricket can be tough, it can be insecure as well, because only 15 can be picked. It is the job of support staff to keep them happy."
India's T20I series begins on July 27 in Pallekele.
England are scheduled to travel to India for five Tests, three ODIs and three Twenty20 International matches between January and March.
There has been talk of those encounters being staged in the United Arab Emirates due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Indian Premier League was moved to the UAE, but BCCI president Ganguly hopes international cricket can take place on Indian soil early next year.
"Priority is to make this happen in India. We will try to make this happen on Indian grounds," said the former India all-rounder.
"The advantage in UAE is they have three stadiums [in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Dubai],
"We also have the same facility in Mumbai – CCI, Wankhede and DY Patil. We also have Eden Gardens. We have to create a bubble.
"We want to hold our cricket in India, that's where the game is, that's where the heart is. But we are monitoring the COVID situation.
He added: "Everything is fluid. It's been hard for the last six months to keep everything in order. You want your cricket to happen.
"You want lives to get back to normal, there are players involved. But you also want to have a close look at the COVID situation."
Kohli has not made an international century since he reached three figures in a Test against Bangladesh in November 2019.
The 33-year-old endured a miserable tour of England, scoring only 31 runs combined in his two innings of the rearranged final Test at Edgbaston before failing to make it to 20 in his four white-ball knocks against Jos Buttler's side.
Kohli has been rested for the white-ball tour of the Caribbean and there have been calls for one of India's greatest batters to be dropped.
India legend Gavaskar would welcome the chance to help the country's former skipper to turn his fortunes around.
"Having been an opening batter, having been troubled by that line, there are certain things that you try and do." Gavaskar told India Today.
"It goes back to the fact that his first mistake turns out to be his last.
"Again, just because he is not amongst the runs, there is this anxiety to play at every delivery because that is what batters feel, they have got to score.
"You look to play at deliveries that you otherwise won't. But he has gotten out to good deliveries as well on this particular tour."
Gavaskar added: "If I had about 20 minutes with him, I would be able to tell him the things he might have to do.
"It might help him, I am not saying it will help him, but it could, particularly with regards to that off-stump line."
Singh, who retired from cricket in June of last year, achieved the feat in 2007 in a league-stage match of the inaugural T20 World Cup when he clobbered Stuart Broad.
The India legend achieved the feat on the biggest stage, but six other cricketers have also managed the achievement. West Indian legend Gary Sobers, Ravi Shastri of India, Herschelle Gibbs of South Africa, Ross Vitali of England, Hazratullah Zazai of Afghanistan, and Leo Carter of New Zealand.
Despite being 41, Gayle still fancies his chances of becoming the eighth player to do so. Based on his recent performances at this season's IPL, one wouldn’t bet against it. It was at the IPL this season that Gayle became the first player to get to 1000 sixes in T20 cricket. The big left-hander went close to the feat in 2016 when he hit five sixes in an over off Sulieman Benn in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
"It’s very much possible to hit six sixes. So, if six is possible and Yuvraj has done it before so why can’t I do it? Yes, you, I anybody can do that,” Gayle told the Hindustan Times.
In this season's Indian Premier League (IPL) the 40-year-old T20 talisman has been a crucial part of a big comeback for King’s XI Punjab, who were rooted to the bottom of the table after their first seven games, with Gayle also rooted on the bench. Following the player’s introduction, where he crafted a crucial 53, the team has gone on to win three games in a row and are now back in contention for the fourth spot.
Tendulkar believes that in addition to scoring the veteran player has brought a certain amount of energy and confidence to the now surging team.
"When it comes to Gayle, people only talk about his big-hitting. That, everyone knows, but many guys don’t notice one thing, Gayle is a very smart player. He is a big hitter no doubt, but he is a clever guy. If he finds someone threatening who can get him out, he is prepared to see his over through. Then he will target one of two bowlers like he targeted Tushar Despande in the match against Delhi. He got runs off that over,” Tendulkar said via a video posted to his official Twitter account.
“Gayle is a smart player, don’t think Gayle will come out and hit every ball. He does not do that, he understands the surface, he reads the pace of the surface and what the bowler is good at. When he realises that there is a bowler who he can go after, then he goes all out,” he added.
KXIP will go for a fourth straight win when they face Sunrisers Hyderabad and another in-form West Indian Jason Holder today.
His hitting prowess has made him widely regarded as the greatest T20 batsman ever, with his numbers dwarfing his closest competitors.
Since 2020, however, the “Universe Boss” has shifted his focus from cricket to another passion of his: music.
Gayle says his desire to pursue a career in music began during the COVID-19 pandemic when UK based artist, Stylo G, approached him to record a remix to his song titled “Too Hot.”
“When I listened back to it I was pleased with the outcome and that’s how it all started,” Gayle told SportsMax.tv.
From there, I recorded more songs until I started my own label named Triple Century Records and built my own recording studio in my house,” he added.
Fast forward to 2023 and Gayle’s album titled ‘Tropical House Cruises to Jamaica-The Asian Edition’ has entered the 2024 Grammy’s under the Reggae Album of the Year category.
“My entire music career has been surreal and being chosen as the headliner and face of the album was a great feeling. Being in the Grammy race for best Reggae Album is exciting because it’s a dream of mine to win a Grammy,” Gayle said.
The album features a number of musical giants such as Lauryn Hill, Morgan Heritage, Capleton and Sizzla to name a few.
The project, as the name suggests, was marketed mainly to Asia, specifically India, which Gayle describes as his second home. The 44-year-old had a phenomenal career in the Indian Premier League (IPL), first representing the Kolkata Knight Riders before donning the colors of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and finally the Punjab Kings. He was inducted into the RCB hall of fame earlier this year.
“India is my second home and cricket is the national sport there. I have many great cricket memories there and I am loved by the Indian people. I have two songs with Indian artists that did really well there with Emiway Bantai and Arko,” he said.
“So, with India being such a huge market and with my popularity there, we decided to merge sports and music fans and market the music there,” Gayle added.
The Jamaican has not limited his sights to just music, however, as he also mentioned a desire to one day be on the big screen in Bollywood.
“I recently came in an Ad campaign for the Cricket World Cup with a major Bollywood actor for Zomato which is a food delivery giant in India. So, I hope to have more roles with Bollywood actors and even act in a Bollywood film soon as well as have my music featured in Bollywood soundtracks,” Gayle said.
The captain advanced from his overnight 128 to reach 209 not out at tea, with England on 454-4 and looking to bat their hosts out of the game.
Until Saturday, the previous highest score by a batsman on his 100th Test appearance was the 184 that Pakistan great Inzamam-ul-Haq made in 2005 against India.
Former England captain Alastair Cook hailed Root as "a genius", suggesting he might yet go on to pass 300 in the innings, while Kevin Pietersen tweeted to call for the Yorkshireman to be knighted.
Speaking on Channel 4, Cook said: "He's batted India into submission in five sessions.
"It's been an absolute masterclass from him and who says he ain't going for that triple.
"He hasn't looked in any trouble whatsoever. He's an absolutely fantastic batsman, we're watching a genius play.
"He's continued where he's been all winter. The guy is in the form of his life and most importantly he's cashing in."
Last month saw Root make 228 and 186 in England's two-Test series against Sri Lanka.
Root found strong support on Saturday from Ben Stokes, who made a rapid 82 before falling to Shahbaz Nadeem, while Ollie Pope was unbeaten on 24 at tea.
Ravichandran Ashwin then claimed three wickets to stem the visitors' chase, leaving them 357 runs adrift at 158-4.
India resumed at 81-3 at the start of day three, and Gill and Pant led their charge on the way to setting a target of 515.
Gill notched up an impressive unbeaten 119, while Pant scored 109 from 128 balls before the hosts declared at 287-4.
The visitors made a steady start, but Jasprit Bumrah's claiming of Zakir Hasan (33) for the opening wicket stalled their momentum.
Ashwin then took centre stage as he dismissed Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque and Mushfiqur Rahim before bad light brought play to a premature conclusion.
Data Debrief: India close in on personal best
Pant marked his Test cricket comeback in fitting fashion, hitting 13 fours and four sixes on the way to his sixth Test century. Meanwhile, Gill notched up his fifth Test ton during their 167-run unbroken fourth wicket.
India have now hit 85 sixes in 2024, leaving them just five short of breaking the record for most sixes by a team in a calendar year.
Batting first, India got off to a terrific start, scoring 113 runs in the first 22 overs before Hayden Walsh finally found West Indies' first wicket, dismissing Shikhar Dhawan for 58 from 74 deliveries.
An over later, the heavens opened, forcing a two-hour rain delay and a shortened game as a result. With nine wickets in-hand and far fewer overs to survive, India came out of the break swinging, scoring a combined 31 runs in the first two overs when play resumed.
Shubman Gill (98 not out from 98 deliveries) and Shreyas Iyer (44 from 34 deliveries) led the way as India posted a score of 225-3, which the home side never threatened.
A pair of ducks from opener Kyle Mayers and number three Shamarh Brooks crippled the run chase before it could begin, finishing all out for 137 with Yuzvendra Chahal's 4-17 from just four overs leading the way.
Nicholas Pooran (42 from 32 deliveries), Brandon King (42 from 37) and Shai Hope (22 from 33) were the only West Indies batsmen to score more than 10 runs.
Gill's great showing
Indian opener Gill was clearly the star of the show with the bat, finishing two runs shy of his century due to the rain cutting his innings short.
After the match, he called his score "bittersweet", and admitted "I was expecting to get 100".
With scores of 64, 43 and now 98 not out, Gill posted a series average of 102.5.
Scintillating Siraj
The West Indies fans were expecting to be treated with some big-swinging, hard-hitting action once the home side finally took the crease, but their hopes of a win were dashed almost instantly as Mohammed Siraj removed two of their top three batsmen for a combined zero runs.
Neither player had scored less than 35 runs in the first two ODIs of the series.
Gill gets the nod at the MCG ahead of Prithvi Shaw, who failed twice at the top of the order in an embarrassing defeat in the first Test at Adelaide Oval.
Seamer Siraj comes into the attack after Mohammed Shami suffered a fractured right arm in the opening match of the series, which Australia won by eight wickets following the tourists' capitulation to their lowest ever Test total of 36 all out in the second innings
Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja were also named in the team on the eve of the match.
Pant comes in for Wriddhiman Saha, while spinner Jadeja's selection gives stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane a five-man attack to call upon.
Rahane steps in to lead India for the remainder of the series after Virat Kohli returned home for the birth of his first child.
Australia are set to be unchanged as they bid to take a 2-0 lead.
India team:
Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
Replying to Australia's 480 all out at the Narendra Modi Stadium, India were trailing by 191 runs at stumps on Saturday after closing on 289-3.
Opening batter Gill dug in for his highest Test score of 128 in Ahmedabad, where Virat Kohli was well set on 59 at stumps and Ravindra Jadeja was still there on 16 as Rohit Sharma's side strive to win a series they lead 2-1.
Spinners Todd Murphy, Nathan Lyon and Matthew Kuhnemann claimed a wicket apiece as Australia toiled in the heat on a pitch offering little encouragement for the bowlers.
An opening stand of 74 between Rohit (35) and Gill ended when the captain struck a Kuhnemann delivery to Marnus Labuschagne at short cover, but the tourists were unable to make further inroads in the morning session.
The watchful Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara found runs hard to come by after striding out after lunch at 129-1, but they looked untroubled in a partnership of 113 before Murphy trapped the number three lbw for an obdurate 42.
That breakthrough came just before tea, which India took on 188-2 after Gill had swept Murphy for four to reach three figures.
Kohli started with positive intent to get the scoreboard ticking and Gill continued to look comfortable until he was struck on the pad in front by Lyon, leaving India 245-3.
Steve Smith wasted a review for an lbw shout against Jadeja off the bowling of Murphy and Kohli brought up an 107-ball half-century by working Lyon off his hip for two as India chipped away at Australia's lead.
India will look to build an advantage on day four, knowing they have retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but need a win to be guaranteed to face Australia once again in the World Test Championship final in June.
Patience pays off for Gill
Gill laid the foundations with a superbly constructed innings, biding his time as faced 235 balls and wore the Australia bowlers down.
This was his second Test hundred after his first against Bangladesh last year and should cement his spot at the top of the order.
He struck 12 fours and a six, launching Lyon over the rope in the final over on day two.
Kohli looking ominous
Former captain Kohli was rock solid in defence and aggressive at every opportunity, giving himself a great chance to register a 28th Test century.
Australia will need to see the back of the 34-year-old before too long on Sunday if they are to have a realistic chance of squaring the series at 2-2.
After racking up 385-9 at the Holkar Cricket Stadium, India bowled out their opponents for 295, and Tuesday's victory lifts them above England to the top of the ICC ODI team rankings.
Gill, who hit a double hundred in the first match, shared in a stand of 212 with Rohit for the first wicket on Tuesday, the fifth-largest ODI partnership by an India opening pair.
After setting the tone for the contest as both openers reached three figures, Rohit was bowled by Michael Bracewell for 101 from 85 balls at the start of the 27th over, while Gill went soon after for a 78-ball 112 when he got a leading edge to present Blair Tickner (3-76) with the first of his three wickets.
Gill totalled 360 runs across the three games, matching Babar Azam's record for the most scored in a three-match bilateral men's ODI series.
Virat Kohli added 36 and Hardik Pandya weighed in with 54 before becoming the third victim of Jacob Duffy, the New Zealand paceman who returned conspicuous figures of 3-100.
Devon Conway's heroics in New Zealand's reply were in vain, as he cracked 138 from 100 balls before being caught by Rohit at midwicket when looking to pull Umran Malik away to the boundary.
Conway blazed eight sixes in his terrific counter-attack but lacked support. Once he became the sixth Black Caps batter to be dismissed, with the score on 230, the tourists' hopes were all but over, and the innings inevitably petered out.
Holkar a happy home for India
India preserved their 100 per cent record in ODIs at the stadium in Indore, which was staging such a match for just the sixth time. This is the most matches they have won at any venue in ODIs without losing, beating the five wins and one tie they have had at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
This India team are in a rich vein of ODI form, wherever they play, having won all six of their matches in 2023, with this success improving what was already their best winning run to begin a calendar year.
Duffy's sorry century
Duffy's figures of 3-100 made him just the third New Zealand bowler to concede 100 or more runs in a men's ODI, after Martin Snedden (2-105 vs England in 1983) and Tim Southee (0-105 vs India in 2009). Duffy's three wickets, however, gave him the most victims of any bowler to have conceded a century of runs in such a match.
India started the match chasing a 15th consecutive ODI win against their hosts, as well as a second successive clean sweep on one-day tours of Zimbabwe, and they were not to be denied in a high-scoring contest.
Gill's landmark knock came after a solid start from opening duo Shikhar Dhawan (40) and KL Rahul (30), while Ishan Kishan made 50 as the tourists posted 289-8 at Harare Sports Club.
Brad Evans (5-54) recorded the best figures of his fledgling ODI career and although Sikandar Raza made a brilliant 115 off 95 balls, Zimbabwe fell short on 276 all out.
The wickets began to tumble when Zimbabwe threw caution to the wind midway through the innings, losing Regis Chakabva (16), Takudzwanashe Kaitano (13), Ryan Buri (8) and Luke Jongwe (14) in the space of just under 10 overs.
Raza led a terrific fightback, hitting three sixes and finding the rope nine times before he was caught by Gill off the bowling of Shardul Thakur in the penultimate over, and Avesh Khan finished off the job by cleaning up Victor Nyauchi.
Avesh took 3-66, while Axar Patel (2-30), Kuldeep Yadav (2-38) and Deepak Chahar (2-75) also made an impact with the ball.
India have now won seven consecutive ODIs away from home, their best run since a sequence of nine in a row between July 2017 to February 2018.
Gill's massive knock of 208 proved crucial despite Michael Bracewell (140) leading a superb New Zealand fightback attempt at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
Bracewell's heroics were not enough, however, with India finally ending his resistance in the last over.
Generally, it proved a tricky track for batting, with Rohit Sharma the hosts' second-highest scorer on just 34.
But this was all about Gill, whose aggression ensured India's momentum rarely waned even as wickets tumbled around him, the team reaching 349-8.
He got lucky just before reaching 50 as an outside edge off Bracewell was dropped by Tom Latham, but he powered on and tallied his century off just 86 balls.
It was Gill's ruthless approach in the final three overs that was ultimately decisive. Two sixes in the 48th and then a hat-trick of maximums in the 49th saw him surpass 200, before eventually falling to a brilliant Glenn Phillips catch in the last.
It took a while for New Zealand to look capable of threatening India's total, finding themselves in deep trouble at 131-6 in the 29th over.
With the Black Caps floundering, Bracewell had nothing to lose and made a mockery of the India attack.
His 140 off just 78, hitting an astonishing 10 sixes and 12 fours, ensured New Zealand were still in contention in the final over, requiring 13 runs off five balls.
But Shardul Thakur's yorker snared Bracewell lbw, just clipping his heel for the final wicket, leaving India rather relieved with New Zealand 337 all out.
Gill goes into the record books
With his exquisite knock, Gill became the only Indian batter to score a double century against New Zealand in the 50-over format.
He is the fifth batter from India to hit 200 or more in an ODI, while he is the joint-second fastest player to reach 1,000 ODI runs, alongside Pakistan's Iman-ul-Haq (19 innings).
Gill had nine sixes and a further 19 fours in his memorable 149-ball knock.
Siraj sharp with the ball
Mohammed Siraj was the only bowler to take more than two wickets on the day, ending with figures of 4-46.
He could not remove Bracewell, with Shardul eventually claiming that honour, but Siraj undoubtedly played a key role here, with the dangerous Mitchell Santner (57) and captain Latham (24) among his scalps.
Green underwent surgery after breaking his right index finger during a victory over South Africa in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.
Starc damaged his middle finger in the same match in Melbourne, with both players missing out as Australia attempt to secure a 3-0 whitewash of the Proteas at the SCG.
Australia start the first Test against India in Nagpur on February 9 and Green believes that contest could come too soon for himself and paceman Starc.
He told SEN WA: "I think me and Starcy are maybe touch and go for that first one but obviously we'll give ourselves the best chance.
"[It's] going well. Had successful surgery in Sydney and the surgeon is really happy with how it went. I think he did Tim Paine's successful surgery, so it fills me with a lot of confidence.
"The rehab is having two weeks of time [off], then two weeks to start running and get the shoulder and back moving just to double-check they haven't frozen over. Then probably at the four-week mark I'll try and hold a ball and see how that works.
"Try and hold a cricket bat and see how it feels. At the moment [the finger] feels really good, pain-free, so that gives me a bit of confidence in four weeks' time that it will be all good.
"We meet over in Sydney for the Allan Border Medal [ceremony], then we leave the next day to go to India."
Starc also dismissed talk that he may not be able to bowl for the Mumbai Indians at the start of his first Indian Premier League campaign.
He said: "No, that's not correct. I've heard about this for quite a while now. I don't know where it's come from. We've spoken to the selectors. I've heard that I'm 100 per cent available for both skill sets in the IPL at the start, so I'm not too sure where that's come from.
"Obviously my first priority is the Test series that's beforehand, getting myself right for the first Test."
Green scored an impressive unbeaten century for Australia A against India in a tour match, which ended in a draw on Tuesday.
The highly rated 21-year-old also took 2-12 in India's second innings to stake his claim for a place in the first Test, which begins in Adelaide on December 17.
Green, who has also scored 363 runs at an average of 72.6 to begin the Sheffield Shield season, said he simply had to continue performing.
"You're never really sure if you're ready," he told reporters.
"All I can really do is train hard, bounce ideas off other guys that have done it before and try to get myself as ready as I can that way without actually playing so you're never too sure when you're ready."
David Warner (adductor) has been ruled out of the first Test, while there are concerns over Joe Burns' form and Will Pucovski's health after the latter was hit in the helmet by a bouncer during the tour game.
Green said he understood it was difficult to break into an Australia side ranked first in the world.
"I haven't had too many discussions with JL [head coach Justin Langer]," he said.
"Really, I think it's an incredibly hard team to break into. It seems pretty settled at the moment, apart from a few injuries with Davey at the top.
"But that's not really the position I'm vying for. All I can do is really make myself available, get myself ready, that's all I can really do."
Green and Australia A will face India in another tour game starting on Friday.
Hardik will lead India when they begin their tour of New Zealand with the first of three T20Is in Wellington on November 18 – just five days after the T20 World Cup in Australia ends.
One week later, they begin a three-match one-day series at Eden Park in Auckland, in which Dhawan – who led India on a tour of the West Indies earlier this year – will take the captaincy.
Rohit, Kohli and Rahul will all miss the trip to New Zealand, but as many as eight other players currently in Australia for the World Cup will be in attendance.
Hardik, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh have all been selected for the T20I series, with Pant named vice-captain for the entire tour.
There was no place in either squad for Jasprit Bumrah or Ravindra Jadeja, however, after the duo were forced to miss the World Cup through injury.
India captain Rohit Sharma's decision to bowl first paid dividends as England's high-powered line-up was bowled out for 259.
Hardik starred for an India attack missing Jasprit Bumrah through back spasms, with career-best ODI figures of 4-24 before Pant hit a magnificent 125 not out.
Mohammed Siraj removed Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root for ducks in his first over and, after a mini-recovery, England were 74-4 when Hardik removed both Jason Roy (41) and Ben Stokes (27).
Captain Jos Buttler (60) steadied the ship with his first half-century of a series dominated by the ball, but his stand of 75 with Moeen Ali ended when Ravindra Jadeja had the latter caught down the leg side.
A fascinating short-ball battle between Hardik and Liam Livingstone (27) ended with Livingstone caught on the rope by Jadeja, and Buttler fell to a diving catch from the same fielder.
Craig Overton took advantage of a sloppy period from India thereafter to get England past 250, and it looked as if India may pay the price as Reece Topley ran through their top order; Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit and Virat Kohli all removed by the tall fast bowler to leave the tourists 38-3.
Overton got Suryakumar Yadav caught behind, but England were confounded by the combination of Hardik (71) and Pant, who put on 133 before India's all-rounder was dismissed by a superb catch from his opposition counterpart Ben Stokes.
It mattered not as Pant reached three figures for the first time and then hit David Willey for five fours in an over; getting India over the line with a reverse sweep from Joe Root for his 18th boundary of a tremendous display.
Hardik plays pivotal role
Hardik had never before taken four wickets in an ODI - his previous best figures were 3-31 against New Zealand in 2016. He changed that in stunning fashion as he dismissed the heart of a formidable England XI.
And, with India teetering in their reply, it was Hardik who turned the game firmly in their favour with his sixth-highest ODI score, unfurling a series of sublime cover drives in an innings defined by an impressive combination of discipline and aggression.
Pant punishes missed opportunity
Buttler missed a huge opportunity to end Pant's innings on 18, letting a stumping chance go begging.
Pant punished England's captain in style. He smacked Stokes down the ground for his 50 and brought up 100 in 106 balls, before his remarkable bludgeoning of Willey ended the game as a contest.
