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India and West Indies will kick-start their WTC 2023/25 cycle with a 2 Test match series in July. The first of the two Test matches will be played in Dominica from Wednesday before the action moves to Trinidad.
India are coming off a loss in the WTC 2023 final to Australia. From that side, they have dropped Cheteshwar Pujara and Umesh Yadav while Mohammed Shami is being rested from the WI tour. This Test series also rings in the transition period in the Indian Test team.
Here is India’s best predicted XI for 1st Test vs West Indies:
Openers: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill
Rohit Sharma has been retained as the captain and will open alongside Shubman Gill, who is on the rise in international cricket over the past year or so. Gill had cracked centuries in Bangladesh and in Ahmedabad vs Australia, and will be high on confidence after a big IPL season.
Middle-order: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane
Reports are emerging from the Indian camp in West Indies that Yashasvi Jaiswal will be slotted in at number 3 in West Indies, replacing Pujara. Jaiswal has sizeable experience of batting at number 3 in domestic red-ball cricket. Jaiswal has staggering domestic red-ball numbers: in 15 first-class matches, he averages 80 with 9 hundreds and 2 fifties to his name, this shows his appetite for converting his fifties into hundreds.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane will take their number 4 and number 5 positions respectively. The pressure will be on both of them to perform and keep their critics away, particularly because now Pujara is dropped and both of them, too, haven’t had great numbers in recent years, though Rahane played well in WTC Final. Since the start of 2021, Kohli averages 31 and Rahane only 23.
Wicket-keeper: Ishan Kishan
Reports are suggesting that the Indian management has decided to give Ishan Kishan his Test debut in West Indies. KS Bharat averages 18 in 5 Tests and hasn’t impressed with the bat.
Spinners/All-rounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin
Although he was benched for the WTC Final where India assessed conditions to be heavily in favor of pacers, Ashwin is likely to return in the XI against West Indies. In West Indies, Ashwin has 17 wickets in 4 Tests at a good average of 23. Jadeja will partner Ashwin in the spin department
Pacers: Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Jaydev Unadkat
Thakur has been looked as a seam-bowling all-rounder in Tests outside Asia, and he’s done well with the bat, though India would like some more wickets and control from him with the ball as well.
Siraj will lead India’s pace attack in West Indies in absence of Bumrah and Shami. For the other seamer, Unadkat, who played in Bangladesh and has been part of the Test squad for WTC Final, is likely to get the nod over Mukesh Kumar and Navdeep Saini.
India’s predicted playing XI for 1st Test vs West Indies: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane (vc), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Jaydev Unadkat
Bench: Ruturaj Gaikwad, KS Bharat, Axar Patel, Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini.
India’s Test squad vs West Indies: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini.
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