The India Test squad for the upcoming two-Test matches against West Indies at home is unlikely to see major changes from the one that drew the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in England. With wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, who sustained a fracture on his right foot during the fourth Test at Manchester, ruled out of the series, Dhruv Jurel will remain the first-choice wicketkeeper with Tamil Nadu’s N Jagadeesan being the back-up option.
The senior national selection committee will meet online on Wednesday to pick the squad for the two Tests to be played in Ahmedabad and Delhi from October 2. With the selection panel set for a rejig – S Sharath and Subroto Banerjee – this will be their last meeting before Pragyan Ojha and RP Singh replace them respectively post the annual general meeting of the BCCI on September 28.
While the selectors are set to retain the core of the team that featured in the five Tests in England post the retirement of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, there is going to be plenty of discussion around middle-order batsman Karun Nair. The 33-year-old who made a comeback to the Test team after a gap of nearly seven years in England played four Tests, but crossed fifty only once in the final match at The Oval. Though he got starts in other matches and looked settled in the middle, he couldn’t convert them into big ones, which would have cemented his spot. It is understood that the house is divided with regards to Karun, who in spin-friendly conditions can be a real asset to the side and there is a school of thought that he should be given one more opportunity in the home Tests.
In case the selectors decide to look beyond Karun, they are unlikely to move towards Sarfaraz Khan, another prolific run-scorer in domestic circuit, who narrowly missed out on the plane to England. Instead, the selection panel led by Ajit Agarkar is looking at Devdutt Padikkal, who was part of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and missed the England tour with an injury. The left-hander, who now bats in the middle-order, is looked at with interest and in his most recent outing for India A against Australia A at Lucknow, scored 150.
The Indian Express understands that selectors will be naming a 15-member squad and there is also deliberation around Abhimanyu Easwaran. The Bengal opener has been in the fringes for a while and in successive away tours to Australia and England was their back-up opener and is still awaiting a Test cap.
It would also be interesting to see the make-up of India’s bowling combination. With the conditions expected to be in favour of spinners, it remains to be seen what the selectors do with their premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah. With all their primary focus being on the T20 World Cup, the team management has made its intentions well-known that Bumrah would be given adequate care and his availability will depend on his workload. With India looking good to go all the way to the final of the Asia Cup, it is understood that the chance of Bumrah featuring at his home ground straightaway with just three-day gap between the title clash in Dubai and Ahmedabad is bleak. With Mohammed Siraj fit and available and the likes of Akash Deep, Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna around, the selectors have the luxury to rest Bumrah.
Even with regards to the spin combination the trio of Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav are automatic picks with Axar Patel also likely to get a recall.
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West Indies, which are looking for their first Test win on Indian soil for 42 years, are heading for the short tour with a strong pace line-up. Having not won a Test in India since 1994, they have lost three of their last four Tests here by an innings margin and one by 10 wickets.
The postWill Karun Nair retain his place, is Devdutt Padikkal preferred over Sarfaraz Khan for Tests against West Indies? appeared first on Indian Express
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