India announce 15-member squad for Test series against West Indies, Ravindra Jadeja named new vice-captain
The senior men’s selection committee on Thursday, September 25, named a 15-member squad for the upcoming two-Test series against the West Indies. Notably, Shreyas Iyer, who was in contention, has been granted a six-month break from red-ball cricket by the BCCI after opting out due to recurring back spasms.
Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant had to sit out for the foot injury he suffered during the fourth Test against England in Manchester. In his absence, Ravindra Jadeja has been announced as the new vice-captain.
“Rishabh Pant hasn't quite recovered for this series. We're hoping that he will recover for the next one. That's why we picked Jadeja as Vice captain,” chief selector Ajit Agarkar said in the press conference.
Interestingly, Sarfaraz Khan, who was in the fray, has once again been omitted and is now expected to play for Mumbai in the upcoming Ranji Trophy.
Karun Nair dropped
Karun Nair has been dropped from the Test squad after he flopped in the five-match Test series against England. In five Tests, the senior batter made 205 runs in four matches, which didn’t impress the selectors, as captain Agarkar confirmed. In his absence, the selectors have recalled Devdutt Padikkal, who was dropped from the England series.
“Frankly, we have expected a little bit more. He has played four Tests. We believe Padikkal offers a little bit more at this point. We wish we could give everyone or 15 to 20 Tests but unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. Padikkal has been in the Test squad. He was in the Test squad in Australia. He played against England in Dharamshala, scored a fifty there. He has shown some decent form with India A. So yeah, expected a bit more from Karun in the England tour,” Agarkar said.
India squad - Shubman Gill (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja (VC), Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, N Jagadeeshan, Sai Sudharasan
