IND vs WI 1st Test: Rohit Sharma on Tuesday confirmed that young Yashasvi Jaiswal will make his debut and play as an opener in the first Test of the two-match series against West Indies
Team India (Pic: AFP)
The Men in Blue will kickstart its ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 campaign with a two-Test series against West Indies, with the first Test from Wednesday in Dominica. While India will play their first Test after their WTC Final loss against Australia, two-time champions West Indies are coming off a shocking elimination from the ODI World Cup 2023 Qualifiers.
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There are plenty of challenges for both sides and they will be eager to prove themselves in the beginning phase of the next WTC cycle. While another WTC final defeat will hurt the team, there was a strong feeling that the Shiv Sunder Das-led selection committee and head coach Rahul Dravid will be looking at new options, which starts with the series in the Caribbean.
Rohit Sharma on Tuesday confirmed that young Yashasvi Jaiswal will make his debut and play as an opener in the first Test of the two-match series against West Indies. Addressing the pre-match press conference, the India captain mentioned that Shubman Gill will go down to No.3 to fill the spot vacated by Cheteshwar Pujara, who wasn't considered for this tour.The 36-year-old Sharma also confirmed that India are also set to play two spinners in the first Test. Although he did not confirm who the spinners were, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin are primed to take the two spots with Axar Patel the other spinner in the squad.
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Besides Gill, the series has also seen maiden call-ups for Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad. Young pacer Mukesh Kumar will also be seen in action. Veteran India pacer Jaydev Unadkat is likely to feature in the playing XI. Axar has developed into a damaging batter in the India line-up, but he is among the players who did not feature in 2019. Nor were Navdeep Saini or wicketkeepers Ishan Kishan and KS Bharat.
India's Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara was a vital cog for the side four years ago, but faced the axe after India's disappointing loss to Australia in the WTC final. The West Indies series will neither feature openers KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal. Rishabh Pant, who continues to recover from injuries suffered in a horrific car accident last year, is set to be replaced by Ishan Kishan as per reports.
Hanuma Vihari, who was India's highest run-getter in the last WI tour is also not part of the side and so is wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha. Jasprit Bumrah, who scalped his first Test hat-trick against West Indies in 2019, has been dropped due to injury. While Mohammed Shami has been rested, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav did not find a place in the playing XI.
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