After the rocky start, India's batsmen Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant scored 50 runs doing damage control after the big guns fell quickly.
The fans at Chepauk were given a shock with the early dismissal of Virat Kohli, KL Rahul.
SS Cottrell did a fine job as he dismissed open KL Rahul and India team skipper Virat Kohli leaving India at 2-25, after 7 overs.
Then on Rohit Sharma and S Iyer took over the reins to steady for a while only for AS Joseph to dismiss Rohit at 36.
With S Iyer steady on one end at 53 off 75 balls, Rishabh Pant has hit the ground running scoring 51 runs off 50 balls with India at 165 for 3 after 33 overs.
West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard won the toss and elected to bowl first in the opening one-day international against India in Chennai on Sunday.
Pollard said the team is looking to be competitive after being edged out in the recent Twenty20 series 1-2 following their loss in the decider on Wednesday.
"This pitch is bit of an unknown so we will see how it behaves," Pollard said of the track at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
"We are looking forward to this challenge. We have done a lot of talking about how we want to play international cricket. We want to be competitive."
Batsman Shivam Dube has been handed his ODI debut after an impressive show in the T20 series when he hit his maiden fifty in the shortest format.
Captain Virat Kohli said he is "happy" to bat first as a strong total would put the opposition under pressure.
"Wanted to bat, very happy, it's a dry surface," said Kohli.
"Very surprised by West Indies' decision to bowl...West Indies are a dangerous side and we can't take them lightly. It is good for us to bat first and it is better suited to our game."
(With Inputs from AFP)