Test veteran Cheteshwar Pujara’s extended batting slump has seen him left out of India’s upcoming trip to the West Indies as selectors announced squads for the tour on Friday.
Up-and-coming batsmen Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad have been included in the 16-man squad for a two-Test series starting 12 July in Windsor Park, Dominica.
Jaiswal (21) and Gaikwad (26) were among the top run-getters in this year’s IPL and have been tipped as the future of Indian batting.
The duo come in at the expense of Pujara (35), whose prolonged run drought included a disappointing 14 and 27 in India’s loss to Australia in this month’s World Test Championship final.
Jaiswal, who once lived in tents and sold food on the street to pursue his cricketing dream, made 625 runs including a century for Rajasthan Royals in this year’s IPL.
Pace spearhead Mohammed Shami has been rested from the tour after a gruelling IPL and Test championship.
Mohammed Siraj leads the pace pack alongside Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini and uncapped Mukesh Kumar.
Rohit Sharma will lead the team in the Tests and three ODIs, while the squad for the following five T20Is has yet to be announced.
Ajinkya Rahane will serve as Rohit’s deputy in Tests and Hardik Pandya is vice-captain in the ODIs.
Team stalwarts Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer are all recovering from injuries while wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant is still undergoing rehab after a car crash in December.
India Test squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini.
India ODI squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Shardul Thakur, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik, Mukesh Kumar.
© Agence France-Presse
