Team India’s World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 cycle is all set to get underway with the two-match Test series against West Indies, starting July 12 in Dominica.
For the series, the BCCI selection committee on Friday (June 23) announced India’s 16-member squad, which included some fresh faces like Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Mukesh Kumar.
Other than that, the squad largely featured established stars such as Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
After the WTC 2023 final loss to Australia earlier this month, it was expected that the Indian Test side will undergo transition but the team selection suggests that the selectors don’t want to rush in just yet.
Meanwhile, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has expressed his disappointment over the Test squad, saying that the time was ideal for India to try out younger players while adding that picking the established names would offer zero benefit other than improving their individual records.
"West Indies are no more the force they were in the last century as can be seen by the fact that they are currently playing in Zimbabwe to try and qualify for the ODI World Cup that they won twice in the 70s. So picking some younger players for the Test series would have made more sense," Gavaskar wrote in his column for Mid-Day.
"What is Indian cricket going to learn by picking the same seniors for the two Test matches who have now failed to deliver in two World Test Championship finals. How does it even matter if they score heaps of runs and take a bunch of wickets in the Caribbean apart from it bulking up their individual career stats," he added.
With the 50-over World Cup slated to be held in India later this year, Gavaskar reckons India could have really done by resting some of their key players.
"More importantly, the seniors who are certainties for the World Cup in October could have done with a bit of rest after the busy season they have had over the last six months. With the World Cup in mind, they should focus only on white-ball cricket and prepare for what promises to be an exciting World Cup," he stated.
