The Indian team squad for the two-Test series against the West Indies on September 25, 2025. The biggest news was that Karun Nair was dropped from the squad, making way for Devdutt Padikkal. Jasprit Bumrah was also included in the Test squad after missing the last Test at the Oval against England.

The two-test series between India and the West Indies will see the first test to be played in Ahmedabad from October 2, and the second test will be played in Delhi from October 10.

Shubman Gill was named captain of the side, and Ravindra Jadeja was named the vice-captain of the side. This was because regular vice-captain Rishabh Pant remains unavailable due to his fractured foot.

"Rishabh is the vice-captain at the moment and a key player but, unfortunately, hasn't quite recovered to make this particular Test series," said chief selector Ajit Agarkar on Pant's absence in the squad.

Agarkar also revealed that Pant is expected to be fit in time for the South Africa series in December, and with him absent, Jadeja was named the vice-captain, being the senior-most player in the squad.

"We're hopeful that he'll be available for South Africa (Tests), and Jaddu's been one of your top performers, so there's a lot of experience. He (Pant) won't be ready, but like I said, we are hopeful that by the time South Africa comes around, he'll be 100% fit. On exact timelines, I know he's not going to make these two test matches, but after that, he's very close to getting fit,” Agarkar stated.

Ajit Agarkar also explained the rationale behind dropping Karun Nair after he made his Test return on the England tour. Nair, who last played for India in 2017, played four tests in England recently, scoring 205 runs with one fifty to his name.

Now, unimpressed with Nair’s returns on the England tour, he was dropped from the Indian squad, and Agarkar revealed that the team had higher expectations from the 33-year-old.

“Frankly, we expected a little bit more. He’s played four Tests, but we’ve spoken about just one inning. It is the way it is. We feel we need a little bit more at this point. We wish we could give everyone 15 or 20 tests, but it doesn’t work that way," Agarkar said.

Agarkar also spoke about why Devdutt Padikkal was chosen for the middle-order spot.

“Padikkal has been in the Test squad against Australia, and he played in Dharamshala, where he got a fifty. He has been in decent form with India A," he added.

Team India Squad For the West Indies Series:

Shubman Gill (C), Ravindra Jadeja (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Narayan Jagadeeshan (WK)

(Times of India inputs)