The India squad for the upcoming two-match West Indies Test series, which will kickstart the home Test season from October 2, was announced earlier today. Notably, this will be India’s first home assignment after the retirements of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin from the longest format.
There were a few interesting calls taken with Devdutt Padikkal and Axar Patel making a return to the Test fray while Karun Nair was unceremoniously dropped after a mediocre outing in England.
On the other hand, with Rishabh Pant misses out due to injury that he picked up during the England Tests and India have named a new vice captain in Ravindra Jadeja for the series.
As the side transitions and aims to reassert their dominance at home, let’s take a look at how the best India Playing XI looks like.
While the team looks solid on paper across departments, there are still a few questions that need to be addressed.
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The dynamic left-hander made a return to the India side with two Tests under his belt. The Karnataka batter made his debut in early 2024 against England at home and then featured in another game in the Border Gavaskar Trophy later in the year.
While Padikkal was out of contention for the England Tests due to injury, he has now been rewarded for his stellar form in red-ball cricket where he hit a fifty in the Duleep Trophy semis and then slammed a stellar 150 for India A against Australia A. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar also backed him to feature in the playing XI which raises an important question, where will Devdutt Padikkal bat?
India already have a set opening pair in KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal with Shubman Gill at No.4. The No.3 position could be a possibility but Sai Sudharsan already played in the spot against England and further consolidated his place with a couple of fifties against Australia A.
The other available slot for Padikkal can thus be at No.5. He also has experience of batting in the middle and can be a replacement for Karun Nair.
India has two players with the same skillset- Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja who bowl left-arm orthodox and bat left-handed. However, Jadeja is a veteran in the format and has also been named as Shubman’s deputy, which means uncertainty regarding Axar’s place in the Playing XI.
Axar Patel will thus likely to be used in a backup role. He can however be included in the lineup to give an extra spin option along with an added batting depth, likely in Devdutt’s place, an option that coach Gautam Gambhir often tends to adapt.
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