IND vs WI: The India tour of West Indies is just round the corner and a major headache for BCCI Selection Committee and the Team Management would be to find the perfect team combination for the Two Test matches. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane continue to be the stalwarts in the team, but there will be quite a few changes in the team as India are keen to test their bench strength.
The opening order is settled and there won’t be any change to it. Skipper Rohit Sharma will leading from the front accompanied by youngster Shubman Gill who secured his place in the Indian Cricket Team after consistently performing across all three formats of the game. Though there are quite a few options in the top order, Rahul Dravid will be unwilling to tinker the explosive opening duo.
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There will be a fight for the number 3 spot between Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad. Both the batters are keen on showcasing their talent at the grand stage which will push Virat Kohli down the order at number 4 in the absence of Cheteshwar Pujara. In the recently concluded WTC Finals, Jaiswal was selected as the standby player who replaced Ruturaj Gaikwad after the latter took himself off from the series on the account of his marriage.
Both the batters will fight for the 3rd spot while Virat Kohli and vice captain Ajinkya Rahane will slot in the number 4 and 5 spot respectively. While Kohli needs no introduction, he will be a crucial batter for the Indian side in this overseas tour. Rahane who made a strong comeback into red ball cricket after a long gap of 14 months had a stunning IPL 2023 season and stood strong against the strong Aussie bowling in the WTC Finals.
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For the wicketkeeper’s spot, it will be a tough fight between Ishan Kishan and KS Bharat, both keen to solidy their spot in the team in the absence of the injured Rishabh Pant. While Bharat got his chance in the WTC Finals, it can be hoped that Kishan will get his chance when India visits the Caribbeans.
Down the order, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin will start as the duo are quite handy with the bat and are ranked World number 1 and 2 respectively in the longest format of the game. In the pacer’s department, Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Siraj will spearhead the attack with the former being gritty with the bat. As for the pacer choice it will be a tough choice between the likes of Mukesh Kumar and Jaydev Unadkat.
India Team Choice against West Indies
1. Rohit Sharma
2. Shubman Gill
3. Yashasvi Jaiswal/ Ruturaj Gaikwad
4. Virat Kohli
5. Ajinkya Rahane
6. Ishan Kishan / KS Bharat (WK)
7. Ravindra Jadeja
8. Ravichandran Ashwin
9. Shardul Thakur
10. Mukesh Kumar/ Jaydev Unadkat
11. Mohammed Siraj
INDIA Test Squad: Rohit Sharma (Capt), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (VC), KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini.
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