Rohit Sharma to captain India’s 16-man squad for two-match Test series vs West Indies; Cheteshwar Pujara dropped

Cheteshwar Pujara’s omission from the 16-man list grabbed the headlines as BCCI announced the squad for India’s two-Test series against West Indies scheduled to start with the first Test at Windsor Park in Dominica on July 12th. 

One of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal, both of whom have earned a call-up to the Test setup could be primed to make their debut while Navdeep Saini and Mukesh Kumar have also made the cut. Mohammad Shami has been rested, while Umesh Yadav has also been overlooked.

It remains to be seen as to who occupies Pujara’s No.3 spot, with the senior batter having lost his spot after only registering scores of 14 and 27 against Australia in the WTC Final. Ajinkya Rahane, who finished as India’s highest run-getter in the summit clash has been rewarded for his efforts by being named as the vice-captain of the squad for the West Indies series. 

KS Bharat and Ishan Kishan have been retained as the wicket-keeping options with Rishabh Pant still recuperating after a horrific car crash, while the spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel have all been named in the squad. 

In Jasprit Bumrah and Shami’s absence, Mohammad Siraj is likely to spearhead the pace bowling department and he will have the seasoned pair of Jaydev Unadkat and Shardul Thakur for company, apart from new entrants Mukesh and Saini. 

India’s squad for West Indies Tests:

Rohit Sharma (C), Ajinkya Rahane (VC), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini. 

India’s schedule for West Indies Test series:

1st Test: July 12 - July 16, Windsor Park, Dominica

2nd Test: July 20 - 24, Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad