A potential white-ball lifeline for Rishabh Pant and fit-again Hardik Pandya’s possible inclusion could well dominate the headlines when the Ajit Agarkar-led BCCI selection committee picks the ODI and T20I squads for the home series against West Indies on Wednesday (September 16).
The Men in Blue will play three ODIs and five T20Is against the West Indies. While the T20I squad is expected to be a mirror image of the Asian Games squad, the selectors will face a hard time in picking the 50-over squad from the options available.
While Hardik is expected to be fit for competitive white-ball action by September 20, selectors face a tough call on whether he is physically ready to bowl a 10-over quota and field for a full 50 overs with the West Indies ODIs starting on September 27.
Pandya has already been selected for India A’s one-day series against Australia A, slated to begin on October 6 in Puducherry.
The lack of seam-bowling all-rounders is an issue for selection committee if Pandya fails to make the cut. Emerging as a top alternative, Nitish Kumar Reddy is slated to travel to Japan for the Asian Games, making him unavailable for the ODI series.
Other back-ups like Suryansh Shedge and Venkatesh Iyer are currently sidelined with injuries.
With Ishan Kishan representing India at the Asian Games, a window has opened for Pant to regain his spot in the 50-over format. However, if selectors opt to keep him fresh for domestic assignments like the Irani Cup, Dhruv Jurel will likely secure the backup keeper spot behind primary choice KL Rahul.
With Shreyas Iyer leading the Asian Games squad, Rahul is slated to step up as deputy to captain Shubman Gill during the ODI series. This vacancy also opens up a middle-order slot, with Ruturaj Gaikwad expected to take the No. 4 position and Rajat Patidar providing crucial middle-order bench strength.
Since Axar Patel is unavailable due to his commitment to the Asian Games and Harsh Dubey nursing injury, selectors might be forced to reconsider veteran Ravindra Jadeja. Despite being dropped for the previous ODI series in England, Jadej’s experience is now desperately needed unless they opt for a developmental left-field pick like Manav Suthar.
If Varun Chakaravarthy's injury rules him out of the Asian Games, Kuldeep Yadav will likely be drafted as his replacement for the multi-sport event. This would leave the main ODI team completely devoid of an experienced wrist spinner, and it might prompt selectors to fast-track domestic prospects like Vipraj Nigam or Zeeshan Ansari into the national setup.
The fast-bowling contingent is likely to see the return of Mohammed Siraj. For the West Indies ODIs, he could spearhead a relatively new-look pace attack featuring Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, and Prince Yadav, all of whom played the last series against England. Jasprit Bumrah won't be available due to his Asian Games commitment.
Mohammad Shami and Yuzvendra Chahal are unlikely to be considered by selectors as the team focuses on younger alternatives ahead of the 2027 World Cup.
(With PTI Inputs)
