India’s embarrassing loss against Australia in the ICC World Test Championship final on June 11 is set to cost two senior players a spot in the team when India travel to West Indies next month. According to a report from PTI, the veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara and pacer Umesh Yadav are unlikely to make the Test squad on the West Indies tour. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Mukesh Kumar are in contention to replace the experienced duo after consistently impressive performances in Ranji Trophy.
India’s tour of West Indies 2023 starts with two Tests on July 12 and follows by three ODIs and five T20Is. The Indian team is not scheduled to play red-ball cricket till December this year, so, the selection committee and national team head coach Rahul Dravid are looking at future options.
Pujara, 35, has scored over 7000 runs in Test cricket but managed to score just 41 runs across two innings in WTC final 2023. Meanwhile, Umesh Yadav picked up only two wickets, both in the second innings. According to a former national selector, Devang Gandhi called for a balance of youth and experience in the Test team and said Yashasvi Jaiswal is ready for international cricket.
“You need to strike a balance. Selection is a process of elimination but you need that blend of youth and experience. The idea should be long-term and you have to look at two- year cycle now. I believe Yashasvi Jaiswal is ready for international cricket. He has scored double hundreds in Ranji, Irani and Duleep Trophy. Looks solid in terms of temperament and could be groomed while being given enough chances to grow,” former national selector Devang Gandhi told PTI.
Another former national selector, who refused to be quoted, said that Umesh Yadav is in the final stages of his career and added that Mukesh Kumar is the only in-form bowler to replace the veteran.
“Look, Umesh is at the business end of his career but with no A tour programme, you don’t know who all are ready. There was a time we had Mayank Agarwal, Rishabh Pant, Hanuma Vihari, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini ready through consistent A tours and shadow series. Now you don’t know. I presume only form bowler is Mukesh Kumar but he is a seamer and not an express pacer,” the selector said.
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