India's star players are gearing up for their two-Test series against the West Indies, which will be their first assignment after the defeat in World Test Championship (WTC) Final against Australia last month. The Indian players come into the tour on the back of a rare break in international duties and the series itself, which will also mark India's beginning of the third cycle of the WTC, could feature a few new faces being introduced.
The Indian players were training in Barbados, where they even met West Indies legend Garry Sobers during one of their sessions, and are now making their way to Dominica where the first Test will be played on July 12. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) posted a video of the players going through the motions in their final training session in Barbados.
VIDEO: Kohli, Rohit dig deep against Ashwin, Siraj in India's practice session ahead of West Indies Tests
The video showed the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli facing up to India's pacers apart from the local net bowlers. Yashasvi Jaiswal, who is expected to make his international debut in the first Test, could also be seen taking a few deliveries while head coach Rahul Dravid oversaw the proceedings.
{{/usCountry}}The video showed the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli facing up to India's pacers apart from the local net bowlers. Yashasvi Jaiswal, who is expected to make his international debut in the first Test, could also be seen taking a few deliveries while head coach Rahul Dravid oversaw the proceedings.
{{/usCountry}}The Indian team also played a two-day practice match among themselves where Rohit and Jaiswal hit impressive fifties. They are likely to play another one of those before the series opener.
The first Test is scheduled to be played from July 12 to 16 after which the two teams move to Trinidad and Tobago where the second Test will be played from July 20 to 24 in Port of Spain.
This will be followed by a three-match ODI series from July 27 to August 1 after which a five-match T20I series will be played from August 3 to 13. India earlier announced its squad for the T20 series. Youngsters Tilak Varma and Jaiswal have broken into India's 15-member squad. Ajit Agarkar, BCCI's newly-appointed chairman of selectors hasn't rung in too many chances in the Hardik Pandya-led T20I set-up barring giving the two IPL 2023 sensations their maiden India call-ups. Jaiswal, after getting selected in the Test and ODI squads earlier, completed a trifecta by making it in the 20-overs set-up, while Varma has been rewarded for stellar back-to-back seasons with the Mumbai Indians. There is still no place for either Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma.