Thoughts and opinions on #WIVSIND squads.

 

Hello to everybody!

We are eager to launch this blog, and what better way to do so than to examine the Indian cricket team's lineup for the ODIs and Tests they will play against and in the West Indies. Although the T20I'S squad has not yet been announced, it is anticipated to do so by the first week of July.

Two Test matches are scheduled for July 12th and July 20th to kick off the tour. Then the three-match ODI series begins on July 27, July 29, and August 1, respectively. Finally, five Twenty20 Internationals will be played on August 3, 6, 8, 12, and 13, consecutively.

This tour is being billed as both India's rebound from their disgraceful loss to Australia in the World Test Championship Final and preparation for the upcoming ODI World Cup later this year.

 

So, here are the squads(Source : BCCI Twitter Handle):

 

Tests:

• Batters: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad
• Wicketkeepers: KS Bharat, Ishan Kishan
• All-rounders: Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel
• Bowlers: Mohammed Siraj, Jaydev Unadkat, Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini, Mukesh Kumar

 

ODI’S :

• Batters: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav
• Wicketkeepers: Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan
• All-rounders: Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel
• Bowlers: Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Umran Malik, Jaydev Unadkat, Shardul Thakur, Mukesh Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal

Now let us see the top points to be noted from the squads:

 

·      The curious case of Chateshwar Pujara:

Due to his recent performance against Australia in the WTC Final, one of India's most experienced Test players was removed from the team. As the captain of the Sussex Cricket Club in the County Championship before the WTC Final, Pujara achieved great success. Additionally, during the previous WTC cycle, he scored the most amount of runs for the Indian team. Given that Pujara is 35 years old and may not have much more cricket left in him, it is thought wiser by the selectors to test the young Yashavi Jaiswal or the dynamic Shubhman Gill as the new no.3 for India.

 

·       The search for the replacement of Rishabh Pant continues:

Rishabh Pant's unexpected accident in December had a significant negative impact on the Indian cricket team's advancements because Pant played a significant role in both the Test and ODI teams for India. As a result, the Indian team is still having trouble finding a wicketkeeper batter to take Rishabh's place till he returns. KS Bharat has been given many opportunities to succeed in examinations like the BGT and the WTC Final, but he hasn't yet reached his full ability. Ishan Kishan is the other player in Tests who would be a very fascinating option and could attempt to imitate Pant's playing style, but he hasn't recently competed in many First Class matches.

KL Rahul was regarded as the starting wicketkeeper and no. 5 batter in ODIs following Rishabh Pant, but with his injury in the IPL, the Indian team is once again perplexed. With Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan making their comebacks, it will be interesting to see the direction that the Indian team will go. Both of them have shown that they can be good wicketkeeper batters batting down the order, with Sanju having a little more experience than Ishan. Sanju is therefore thought to be the favorite to make the Indian team.

·      Beautiful yet strange comeback story of Ajinkya Rahane:

Until 2021, Ajinkya Rahane was a key member of the Indian test team. However, concerns about his performance and form, as well as Shreyas Iyer's outstanding maiden hundred against New Zealand, began to surface. Following the infamous loss of the South Africa series in 2022, he was immediately removed from the test team. Now, in 2023, he was determined to return.

After a strong domestic campaign with Maharashtra, the Chennai Super Kings selected him for the IPL. Rahane exceeded everyone's expectations because he had his strongest IPL performance since 2015. He scored a tonne of runs with a scorching 170 strike rate. Rahane's hopes of playing for his country once more brightened when it was revealed that Shreyas Iyer might not recover quickly enough to participate in the WTC Final, and that is exactly what transpired. Ajinkya Rahane participated in the WTC Final and scored extremely significant runs in both innings, sparing the Indian team from a more humiliating loss.

The main problem, however, is that R. Ashwin, who had the most wickets in the previous cycle of the WTC, is not given consideration for the position of Vice-Captain and does not even participate in the WTC final against Australia. Ajinkya Rahane, who was cut from the squad just a year ago and did not play a single match for the entire year, is now referred to as the Vice-Captain of the Indian test team.

What do you think, though?

Do you think another chance should have been given to Pujara?

Do you think another player could step into Rishabh Pant's shoes, or do you think we would just have to wait for him to return?

And did you consider it wise or premature to immediately give Ajinkya Rahane the vice-captaincy?

Please share your thoughts in the comments.

And I sincerely appreciate you reading all of this, and I sincerely
hope that you benefited anything from this blog.

Regards.

Ayaan Khan

FlixCricSound.