India’s next red ball assignment after the disastrous England tour will be against the West Indies, who will be coming to India in October for a series of two Tests, five ODIs and three T20Is.
The two Tests will be played at Rajkot from October 4 and at Hyderabad from October 12. The last time West Indies came to India was in 2013 when they were invited for a two-Test series, which was also the farewell series for the great Sachin Tendulkar.
India is coming off a 1-4 Test series loss to England and West Indies are coming off a 1-1 tied series against Sri Lanka. The BCCI is yet to announce the Indian squad for the West Indies Test series, but Team COC presents to you its predicted India Test squad to face Jason Holder’s West Indies team.
With Shikhar Dhawan and M Vijay failing in England, KL Rahul rose up to the occasion in the last innings of the fifth Test, scoring a brilliant 149 runs. This might have helped him book a place for the Windies series.
To partner him, the best candidates are Prithvi Shaw, who went to England as a replacement of M Vijay and Mayank Agarwal, who is waiting in the wings after some big scores for Karnataka and India A teams.
The middle order of Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane might be retained for the Windies Test series, as the Pujara and Rahane had decent outings and Kohli has been rested for the Asia Cup 2018. Hanuma Vihari did well enough to warrant a place against West Indies in the lower middle order along with Rishabh Pant, who might continue with the gloves as well.
Despite all the byes, for someone so young, Pant showed immense talent with the gloves in England and will only get better with time. His batting is a big plus and his century in the last Test was a display in counter-attacking cricket.
The spinners play a big role in India and given the tendency, the trusted duo of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja might be seen giving a tough time to the Windies batsmen. They might have in back up the skills of Kuldeep Yadav, whose solitary England Test didn't quite go well and he will be looking to perform and stay in contention for the Australia tour.
As per fast bowlers go, it might be in the best interest of everyone if the selectors choose to rest both Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has just come off a back injury and has performed well in the Asia Cup 2018; and Jasprit Bumrah, who had a grueling England tour and now Asia Cup 2018. Both these players are vital for India to succeed in the following tour to Australia in December and its better give them as much rest as possible.
In case they are rested, the responsibility of leading the pace attack will fall on Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav, along with Mohammad Shami. These three have been wonderful for Team India especially on Indian pitches and will give the team that necessary edge. As for backup, young Mohammed Siraj might be the right pick, given that he just picked an 8-wicket haul in a domestic match and is perhaps in the best form of his life.
COC Predicted India squad for the Test series versus West Indies:
KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav
