India switch back to Tests against depleted West Indies

Four days on from the victorious T20 Asia Cup final in Dubai, the Indian men’s team will switch formats and get into a two-Test series with West Indies at home. 

It marks the first home Test match for India in the post Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin era, but given the weakened nature of the opposition, this transitional team remains firm favourites. 

Darren Sammy, the head coach of West Indies, talked up his team’s four pacers while referencing New Zealand’s shock 3-0 victory in India last year. However, since that statement, the visitors have lost their two best fast bowlers to injury – Alzarri Joseph and Shamar Joseph. Those are massive blows, and now the burden rests on Jayden Seales (21 Tests old), Anderson Phillip (three Tests), Justin Greaves (nine Tests) and the uncapped Jediah Blades to do damage on what will likely be unfriendly surfaces. 

Where West Indies can hope to make inroads in is with their spinndrs Jomel Warrican, Khary Pierre and Roston Chase, much like New Zealand did last year. But their batting wears a decidedly shaky look, which puts them at a disadvantage against a superior Indian bowling ensemble. 

From the India T20I squad that went to the UAE, only four are part of the Test setup – Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel – and the short turnover means that India go into the Ahmedabad match needing to click immediately. 

Gautam Gambhir, the head coach, insists that Bumrah is fit and ready to play the Tests against West Indies. Bumrah played five of India’s seven games at the Asia Cup, bowling a total of 18.1 overs. From the end of the England tour, during which he featured in three of five Tests, Bumrah had over a month’s break. So there really is reason to believe he will start the series in Ahmedabad. 

For Gill, switching back to Tests after a lean Asia Cup is key, but signs are that he will be fine. The 26-year-old had a bumper tour of England and looks set to dominate the Test format for years to come. He will slot back into the middle order, after India’s top three of Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul and B Sai Sudharsan.

The No 5 spot, now that Karun Nair has been dropped, could go to the recalled Devdutt Padikkal who recently scored 150 against Australia A, albeit on a flat Lucknow pitch. Ravindra Jadeja and Dhruv Jurel are certainties, but whether the selectors opt for Nitish Reddy or Kuldeep Yadav remains to be seen.

Usually, two spinners are a foregone conclusion in India. But India have given Kuldeep the short end of the stick, and even though Ashwin is not around, there is no certainty that Kuldeep gets the nod. However, as he proven time and again, Kuldeep is a wicket-taker. Case in point being the Asia Cup, where he took 17 wickets at under 10 apiece after not being part of a T20I match since the 20254 World Cup final.

Kuldeep’s bowling record at home is 39 wickets from nine Tests, striking every 38 deliveries for an average of 23.39. He should play, given that India won’t really need a fourth seamer in Reddy, but this management has valued lower order runs more than genuine wicket-takers. 

India likely XI for 1st Test: 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 KL Rahul, 3 B Sai Sudharsan, 4 Shubman Gill (capt), Devdutt Padikkal, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Dhruv Jurel (wk), 8 Kuldeep Yadav, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Prasidh Krishna

West Indies likely XI for 1st Test: Tagenarine Chanderpaul, 2 Brandon King, 3 Alick Athanaze, 4 John Campbell, 5 Shai Hope (wk), 6 Roston Chase (capt), 7 Justin Greaves, 8 Jomel Warrican, 9 Jayden Seales, 10 Kharry Pierre, 11 Anderson Phillip