India will take on West Indies in the two-match Test series starting on Wednesday at Windsor Park, Roseau, in Dominica. The series marks the beginning of the 2023-25 World Test Champion Cycle and the transition of the Test side.
The fate of the upcoming two-Test series is considered by many as a foregone conclusion, with Sunil Gavaskar even saying that “the team that the West Indies is today, you can go one day before the Test match starts and you can still beat them.” But the West Indies have not been pushovers in the five-day game of late, especially at home. India will start as heavy favourites no doubt, but the hosts have a few players in their ranks who can spring a surprise or two.
The Windies have won nine Tests and lost 15 over the last four years, but have won four and lost three since India last visited their shores. It will be largely up to their bowlers, specifically their pacers, to fashion a major upset. In the last series too, it was up to the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin to bail India out after the top order went back with not too many runs on the board.
Yashasvi Jaiswal to open the batting
It has not even been a year since Jaiswal came on the national radar. A compact left-handed opener, who hits the cricket ball long and hard, he was one of the players who caught the global eye at the Under-19 World Cup in 2020, where India ended as runners-up. Since then, the left-hander has grown leaps and bounds. Jaiswal had a fruitful IPL and domestic season and is all set to make his mark in international cricket against West Indies.
R Ashwin back into the side
When the off-spinner was dropped from the World Test Championship final against Australia at the Oval which India lost, the team management received criticism for not playing him. However, Windsor Park has traditionally been spin-friendly with the tweakers picking 87 wickets at 23.35 and Rohit Sharma has indicated they might be going with the two spinners and three seamers combination. Ashwin would be licking his lips to make a comeback into the side in these conditions.
Jaydev Unadkat to get a game
Despite making his debut way back in 2010 Unadkat has only played two Test matches in his career. He has been phenomenal in the domestic arena in recent years and got his India call-up against Bangladesh in December and played in the second Test of the series. However, he has been only a squad player since his comeback. Nevertheless the 31-year-old might get a chance to play both the Tests against West Indies. His left-arm angle means that India will have a different dimension of attack in their arsenal.
India: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, KS Bharat, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammad Siraj, Navdeep Saini
West Indies: Kraigg Brathwaite, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Raymon Reifer, Jermaine Blackwood, Alick Althanaze, Joshua Da Silva, Jason Holder, Rahkeem Cornwall, Alzarri Joseph, Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel
Squads:
West Indies Squad: Kraigg Brathwaite(c), Jermaine Blackwood, Alick Athanaze, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Joshua Da Silva(w), Rahkeem Cornwall, Jason Holder, Raymon Reifer, Kirk McKenzie, Kemar Roach, Alzarri Joseph, Shannon Gabriel, Jomel Warrican
India Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Srikar Bharat(w), Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini, Mukesh Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Jaydev Unadkat
Stay updated with the latest sports news across Cricket, Football, Chess, and more. Catch all the action with real-time live cricket score updates and in-depth coverage of ongoing matches.
