Team India announced their squads for the Tests and ODIs in the upcoming tour of the West Indies, with senior batter Cheteshwar Pujara getting the axe after a poor outing in the ICC World Test Championship final.
The BCCI selection committee instead opted to draft Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad into the Test squad, setting into motion a transition of sorts with an eye on the future.
While Pujara got dropped from the squad, senior batter Ajinkya Rahane retained his place following his gritty 89 in the WTC final against Australia. Rahane also regained vice-captaincy of the Indian team, a position he had lost to opener and reserve wicket-keeper KL Rahul following a poor run of form.
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The selectors also included uncapped seamer Mukesh Kumar, who plays for Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League (IPL), in both the Test and ODI squads.
Both Pujara and Rahane had been dropped from the Test side after a string of low scores in the 2021-22 tour of South Africa. While Rahane would stay out of the side for more than a year, Pujara would claw his way back into the team later that year, getting picked for the delayed fifth Test against England in Birmingham where he would score a defiant 66 in the second innings. He would follow that with scores of 90 and 102 not out in the first Test against Bangladesh in Chattogram in December.
ChePu, however, has collected 181 runs in eight outings so far this year with one half-century to his name at an average of 25.85. Of that, 41 runs came in the WTC final at The Oval where Pujara was dismissed to some questionable selection of shots at crucial stages of the Indian innings.
Shami likely rested
A notable absentee in the Test bowling department, meanwhile, is pace spearhead Mohammed Shami, who likely has been rested from the West Indies tour to manage his workload. In the absence of Shami and Jasprit Bumrah, who is yet to recover from his back injury, Mohammed Siraj leads the pace attack in the Caribbean.
The selectors also decided to bring Navdeep Saini back into the Test mix. Saini has played two Tests so far, both of which came in the 2020-21 tour of Australia, and also had a consistent run in India’s domestic season as well as for India A in their match against Bangladesh A in December.
Ishan Kishan has been named as a wicketkeeping option in both the Test and ODI squads, and will compete for a place in the XI with Srikar Bharat and Sanju Samson in the red and white-ball formats respectively.
India, who finished second in the World Test Championship for a second consecutive time, begin a new cycle with a two-Test series against the Kraigg Brathwaite-led West Indies. The Tests, which take place in Roseau and Port of Spain respectively, will be followed by three ODIs and five T20Is.
India squads for the tour of West Indies:
Test: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (vc), KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, R Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini.
ODI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shardul Thakur, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik, Mukesh Kumar.
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