From dropping veteran batter Cheteshwara Pujara to giving chances to youngsters Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal, the Indian think tank made several noteworthy changes to their star-studded squad for India's upcoming tour to the Caribbean on Friday. While work-horse Mukesh Kumar was named for the first time in India's squad, pacer Mohammed Shami received a much-needed rest when the Board of Control for Cricket In India (BCCI) picked 16 players for the upcoming Test series against the West Indies.
Runners-up in the previous edition of the showpiece event, Rohit Sharma's India will kickstart the new cycle of the ICC World Test Championship with the two-match series against the West Indies. Reflecting on the BCCI's squad announcement, former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has posed two tough questions for the selectors in the lead-up to the bilateral series between India and the West Indies.
Taking to Twitter a day after the squad announcement, Chopra questioned the ouster of premier batter Suryakumar Yadav, who was named a standby batter for the WTC final against Australia. White-ball maverick Suryakumar failed to make a mark in his debut series against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier this year. Chopra not only pointed out the non-selection of Suryakumar for the West Indies Test series, the ex-India cricketer and full-time pundit also gave speed merchant Arshdeep Singh a special mention in his explosive tweet. “And what’s the deal with SKY’s intermittent selection for Tests…gets picked…gets dropped. Is he considered for the longest format or not? And why no Arshdeep for ODI? Is he fit?,” Chopra said in his tweet.
Talking more about India's squad, veteran batter Ajinkya Rahane was appointed as the vice-captain of the Test side. In the absence of veteran pacer Shami, India have speedster Navdeep Saini for the West Indies series. Besides the two Tests, India will also play three One Day Internationals (ODIs) and five-match T20Is against the West Indies. India will play the series opener against the West Indies at Windsor Park on July 12. The Test series decider will be contested at the Queen's Park Oval on July 20.
{{/usCountry}}Talking more about India's squad, veteran batter Ajinkya Rahane was appointed as the vice-captain of the Test side. In the absence of veteran pacer Shami, India have speedster Navdeep Saini for the West Indies series. Besides the two Tests, India will also play three One Day Internationals (ODIs) and five-match T20Is against the West Indies. India will play the series opener against the West Indies at Windsor Park on July 12. The Test series decider will be contested at the Queen's Park Oval on July 20.
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