As we know India’s tour of West Indies is going to start in few days. Indian teams for West Indies tour starting in the first week of August have been announced on Sunday. While the teams have a few new faces, the squads have mostly followed the assumptions.
Indian teams for West Indies tour were to be announced on Friday but later was postponed for Sunday. Meanwhile, speculations over MS Dhoni’s retirement, Indian team management, captaincy are being discussed since the elimination of Kohli’s Team India from World Cup 2019.
It was a shock but Indian cricket will move on for betterment with more focus. And the squads for West Indies tour are hints of the same.
Kohli to fly for West Indies tour
The one-month-long West Indies tour will witness Indian team playing three T20I, three ODI, and two Test matches. The squads are more or less similar with some significant changes.
While players like Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Vijay Shankar, and MS Dhoni have been excluded from the tour for various reasons, Virat Kohli will continue to lead India in West Indies.
MS Dhoni, as informed earlier is taking a couple of months off to be with his army regiment. Shankar is yet to recover from his toe injury and Pandya has been given full rest. B
umrah, on the hand, will be seen playing the Test matches. Kohli will be expected to prove himself once again as a good limited over captain in this comparatively easy tour as the idea of split captaincy is already making rounds.
Rohit Sharma, Kohli’s deputy has made a comeback to test team after almost one year. But with Ajinkya Rahane, Chetaswar Pujara, and KL Rahul in the lineup it will not be easy for him to make to the final playing eleven.
Shikhar Dhawan is making a comeback in limited over after his sudden removal from World Cup due to injury.
India A mark sheet matters
Before India’s tour of West Indies, India A’s ongoing series against West Indies A was expectedly taken into consideration while making this squad. Shreyas Iyer, Khaleel Ahmed and Navdeep Saini had a smooth transfer after their brilliant showcase against the Windies A team.
Manish Pandey is another name from India A that has been included in the team for ODI and T20I series in West Indies. But the expectations was higher for Mayank Agarwal and Shubman Gill getting the chance. Gill missed mostly because of Kohli’s presence but Mayank’s late inclusion in World Cup squad hinted about his limited over debut in West Indies.
The BCCI Chief Selector MSK Prasad explained, ” Dhawan got injured, we already had the third opener in KL (Rahul). We didn’t have a left-hander at the top so the team management had requested for a left-hander and we had no option other than Pant.” Prasad further added, “When Shankar was injured, Rahul had a big fall at the boundary so there was a medical emergency on whether he will continue or not. At that time, a written communication was given that a back-up opener was needed. That is when we went to Mayank.”
Good news for Mayank is that he will again feature in Tests for India in the upcoming tour. Washington Sundar, Krunal Pandya, and Rahul Chahar also got rewarded for consistency and have been named for T20I series.
For Rahul, this will be his first international assignment and he will be sharing a team with his cousin brother Deepak Chahar. Dinesh Karthik will be missing this flight whereas Kedar Jadhav is getting another chance after raising lots of eyebrows.
Mohammad Shami and Bhubneshwar Kumar both will be seen in the 50-over match and the former has been included in Test team with the latter being considered for T20I.
Pant to be groomed in INDvsWI
Rishabh Pant will be the main wicketkeeper for India in all three formats in this series.
But the Bengal keeper Wriddhiman Saha has been included in the Test squad along with Pant. According to the selectors, it is because of Pant’s workload Saha is being considered as well.
The intention is clearly stated that Pant will be groomed as India’s future keeper-batsman. Even KS Bharat was also in line as the second keeper of the Test team but fit Saha after one and half year.
“In the longer format, KS Bharat was very, very close to get selected. We have an unwritten norm when a senior cricketer is injured, he should get a comeback opportunity. That’s what we have given to Saha,” said Prasad.
Here is the Final Indian Squads For West Indies Tour
T20Is: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (WK), Krunal Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini
ODIs: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kedar Jadhav, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Navdeep Saini
Tests: Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (VC), Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, C Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (WK) Wriddhiman Saha (WK), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav.