SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT
Nitish Reddy was ruled out of the England series after the third Test. © Getty
Nitish Kumar Reddy and Devdutt Padikkal have returned to India’s squad for the two-Test home series against West Indies, with no place for either Karun Nair or Abhimanyu Easwaran. The squad was announced by BCCI’s Chairman of Selectors, Ajit Agarkar, on the sidelines of Asia Cup in Dubai.
The 15-man squad will be led by Shubman Gill, with senior pro Ravindra Jadeja named his vice-captain.
Squad: Shubman Gill (c), Ravindra Jadeja (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), N. Jagadeesan (wk), Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
Rishabh Pant, who was the vice-captain on the tour of England, continues to recover from a right foot fracture that he sustained against England in Manchester. “We are hopeful that by the time South Africa comes around, he’s 100% fit,” Agarkar said of Pant.
Both Dhruv Jurel, who was India’s wicket-keeper in Pant’s absence in the Oval Test, and N Jagadeesan, who was added as cover, have made it to the squad for West Indies Tests. Jurel did his chances no harm with a 140 against Australia A in the first unofficial Test. Jagadeesan, who opened the batting, made 64. The knock-on effect was that Easwaran lost his place, with Agarkar saying that the place for the third opener in a home series went to Axar Patel, the spin allrounder.
Nair, dropped from the squad, played four Tests on the England tour, with Agarkar going on to stress twice that the selection panel “expected more” from Nair. The 33-year-old scored 205 runs in England at an average of just over 25, with a lone half-century in eight innings and a highest score of 57. On top of that, he often looked vulnerable against pace even on flat surfaces.
Padikkal, who has been included in his place as reported by Cricbuzz, recently scored 150 against the touring Australia A side in Lucknow.
“Frankly, we expected a little bit more. I mean, he played four Tests,” Agarkar said of Nair. “As it is, I mean, we feel Padikkal offers a little bit more at this point. And I wish we could give everyone 15 or 20 tests. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. Padikkal’s been in the Test squad…he was in the Test squad in Australia, played in Dharamshala against England, got a 50 there. So he’s shown some decent form with India. Yeah, frankly, we expected a bit more from Karun on the England trip.”
India appear to be investing long-term faith in Sai Sudharsan for the No. 3 spot. He began the five-Test tour of England in that role before making way for Nair. Sudharsan regained the position for the fourth and fifth Tests, and looks set to continue.
“There were a few changes to number three, because of the combination that we played,” Agarkar explained. “We played an extra all-rounder, down the order, and that’s how we changed the combination. Then Reddy came into the picture in a couple of the Tests. So that just depends on what the captain and the coach at that point want, and what balance they want to do.
“But as far as going forward is concerned, I mean, Sai has shown a lot of promise. We know he’s a very good player, and hopefully we can give him a longish run from now on, at a particular number. And when people like Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma retire, those are big holes to fill here, always. I mean, not to forget, Ashwin retired a few months back, and Shami hasn’t now played for a while. Those guys have been, sort of, over the last 10 years, been key players for the team, so those things, but a lot of these younger guys have shown some really good signs in England, which was a really tough tour, even though we didn’t win it, but there were lots of positives, and hopefully going forward, we can give these guys time to actually build their careers.”
On Nitish, who’s been picked for his first Test series at home, Agarkar said: “Nitish showed a lot of promise, even the way he bowled at Lord’s and the way he batted under pressure in the second innings. Plus, his batting in Australia has shown he’s got the potential. And he’s still a young kid who’s developing his game. So, you know, the more he plays, the better he’s going to get. And we obviously have high hopes of him. If he does develop into that, an all-rounder that you always keep looking for, it does give you a lot of flexibility with the 11s that you pick and the balance you can create in the team.”
Agarkar also confirmed that Jasprit Bumrah will be available for both the Test matches against West Indies. “Yes, he’s available for both the Test matches. We’ve had a fair break after England. In fact, he didn’t play the fifth test either. So there’s been five weeks of break. And even this tournament’s been fairly spaced out till this last week. So he’s ready and keen to play both Test matches.”
Prasidh Krishna, the tall hit-the-deck bowler, was replaced by a concussion substitute in the ongoing second unofficial Test against Australia A in Lucknow but has made the cut. He had a mixed tour of England, taking 14 wickets in three Tests, which were as many as Jasprit Bumrah but came at a much higher average of 37.07. He conceded runs at 4.94 an over, often while carrying out India’s short-ball ploy, but redeemed himself with a superb match-winning eight-wicket haul in the fifth Test at The Oval that helped India draw the series.
Akash Deep, who missed the fourth Test in Manchester with a groin injury and didn’t look his best in the fifth and final Test at Oval, was not included for the less seam-friendly conditions back home. He’s instead been named in the Irani Trophy squad along with Easwaran.
Arshdeep Singh, picked for his left-arm swing on the England tour but left uncapped, has also missed out on selection in less favourable conditions at home. He instead, will ply his trade for India A in the second and third one-day game against Australia A on October 3 and October 5 in Kanpur.
Shreyas Iyer was not in the fray for selection, with the Mumbai batter requesting a break from red-ball matches to focus on his fitness. He will be leading the India A squad in the one-dayers against Australia A.
“Because of WTC, every Test match becomes very important. We had a terrible series against New Zealand, and it was a, maybe it was a wake-up call, it was a lesson,” Agarkar said. “We don’t want that repeated again. We’ve generally been, over the last long time, very strong at home. That was after a while that we’ve had a few bad results, and we want to try and put it right.
“All these four Test matches that we’ll play at home, two West Indies and two South Africa, become very critical. It’s a game, so anything’s possible, but you don’t want to try and let what happened against New Zealand happen again.”
India will be playing in the Asia Cup final on September 28. The first Test against West Indies starts in Ahmedabad on October 2.
© Cricbuzz
