IND vs WI: The new era of the Indian Test team under Shubman Gill, following the retirements of R Ashwin, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma, began earlier this year with a thrilling series in England, which ended in a 2-2 draw.
Now, India will take the field in a home Test match for the first time since 2011 without Ashwin, who holds the record for the most Test wickets in India, when they host the West Indies for a two-match Test series, to be played in Ahmedabad and Delhi from October 2.
The BCCI selection meeting is reportedly slated for Wednesday, September 24, to pick a 15-man India squad for the West Indies Test series.
First thing, since West Indies’ stronger point is their pace attack, the pitches for the IND vs WI Test series are expected to be spin-friendly, but not as much as they were during the series against New Zealand last year, which brought the opposition’s less experienced and less skilled spinners into play.
IND vs WI: Will Rishabh Pant play against West Indies in Test series?
Rishabh Pant has been ruled out of the two-match Test series against the West Indies due to the toe fracture he suffered during the series in England. He is still recovering from it, undergoing rehabilitation at BCCI’s Centre of Excellence facility in Bangalore.
Dhruv Jurel will be picked as the wicket-keeper, with N. Jagadeesan as his backup. Jagadeesan is said to also be the backup opener—he opened in his last two first-class matches, in the Duleep Trophy and for India A against Australia—which would mean that Abhimanyu Easwaran is likely to be excluded from the squad.
Further, there is uncertainty over Jasprit Bumrah because the Asia Cup will end on September 28, which will give Bumrah only three days of rest ahead of the IND vs WI Test series. With Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna available, it’s very likely that India will rest Bumrah from the first Test against the West Indies and pick him for the second Test.
Akash Deep is recovering from the injury he sustained in England and is unlikely to be fit for the West Indies Test series. Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh are other pace-bowling options, but India may not look towards them for a home series, especially with Nitish Kumar Reddy likely to make his return from an injury.
Sai Sudharsan, who scored 61 in Manchester and 73 against Australia A, should retain his No. 3 spot in the lineup.
Another major talking point in the selection meeting will be on Karun Nair and Devdutt Padikkal. Aged 33, Nair returned to the Test for the England series but managed only 205 runs at an average of 25 in what was a high-scoring series on flat pitches. However, he played a terrific knock under pressure in India’s first innings in the fifth Test at the Oval, scoring 57 vital runs in India’s total of 224, which proved crucial in India’s six-run victory.
IND vs WI: Will Karun Nair be picked for Test series against West Indies?
Nair has missed the Duleep Trophy and India A vs Australia A matches due to an injury. Nair could be replaced with Devdutt Padikkal, who recently scored 57 in the Duleep Trophy against the North Zone and 150 against Australia A.
Sarfaraz Khan is recovering from a quadriceps issue and is reportedly unavailable for selection for the West Indies Test series.
The rest of India’s first-choice players pick themselves. While Kuldeep Yadav is expected to be picked in the squad, it remains to be seen if he gets a game, given India have three high-quality spin-bowling all-rounders in Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Washington Sundar.
IND vs WI: India Squad For West Indies Test Series – Predicted
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (C), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Nitish Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, N Jagadeesan (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Devdutt Padikkal, Jasprit Bumrah (possibly for second Test), Karun Nair/Harshit Rana
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