The BCCI has announced the India squad for the Test and ODI series against West Indies. Cheteshwar Pujara has been dropped and Mohammad Shami rested from the Test squad. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Mukesh Kumar have been selected in the Test squad for the first time for the tour of the West Indies. Fast bowler Navdeep Saini has also made a comeback to the squad. He has not played a Test since the famous victory at the Gabba in 2021. Umesh Yadav who played in the WTC final has been dropped.
Meanwhile, Sanju Samson has received a call-up for the ODI squad after a long time. Ruturaj Gaikwad has also been included in the India squad for the ODI series. Pacer Mukesh Kumar is another new face in the Indian Test squad. Ajinkya Rahane, who was India’s highest scorer at The Oval, has kept his place safe in the Test squad. He has also been named vice-captain. The rest of the squad, led by Rohit Sharma, includes most of the players selected for the WTC final.
In the absence of Pujara, now India will have a new No. 3 batter for the series. Earlier in June, Pujara had scored only 14 and 27 in the World Test Championship final against Australia. Otherwise, India will move Shubman Gill down to No. 3. Pujara’s spot could be taken by either Jaiswal or Gaikwad for India’s first series in the 2024-2025 WTC cycle. India open their tour of the West Indies with the first Test in Dominica from July 12. The second Test begins on July 20 at Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain. India won their previous Test series in the Caribbean 2-0 in 2019.
More About Rituraj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Mukesh Kumar
Gaikwad, who plays for Maharashtra, has a first-class average of 42.19 from 28 games with six centuries. Jaiswal, who plays for Mumbai, has a first-class average of 80.21 in 26 innings. Recently, in his first-class game – the Irani Cup – he made 213 and 144 for Rest of India against Madhya Pradesh. And, in an Irani Cup game, this is the most aggregate (357) by any batter. Jaiswal has not only the ability to open but he can also bat at No. 3 if required. Mukesh,30, was key to Bengal making two Ranji Trophy finals in the last three seasons. He has also featured in every India A tour over the past two seasons. He has 149 wickets in 39 first-class games.
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India Squad For Test And ODI
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.
ODI Squad: Rohit Sharma (Capt), 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, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, Mukesh Kumar.
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