Even as the team selection for the two-Test series against West Indies was deferred till the end of the week to confirm the fitness of Ishant Sharma and R Ashwin, it appears that this is the end of the road for Shikhar Dhawan. The two Tests will be held in Rajkot (October 4-8) and Hyderabad (October 12-16) and gives India a chance to fine tune their playing XI for the tour to Australia.
Dhawan’s is set to be axed from the longer format while Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw in contention, reported The Indian Express. The axing of the 32-year-old opener may not come as a surprise for many given his struggle with the red ball in England. In eight innings, he scored only 162 runs with a highest of 44.
While this will be the first call-up for Karnataka opener Agarwal, Mumbai’s Shaw was included in the squad for the last two Test matches in England and would be hoping to get his much-deserved Test cap at Rajkot. Both have performed well on the domestic circuit in the last season. The two will also be in action for the Board President’s XI for the two-day warm-up match against the visitors in Baroda, starting Saturday, along with India’s latest Test debutant, Hanuma Vihari.
The other opener in the fray are Murali Vijay, who has done well in county cricket after the poor tour of England. The only certainty for the opening slot is KL Rahul, who scored 149 at the Oval in the last Test aginst England.
Meanwhile, injured senior speedster Ishant Sharma and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will undergo a fitness test on Saturday before the selectors take a final call on their availability. Ashwin’s hip injury and Ishant’s dodgy ankle are two worrying areas for the selectors. Both have pulled out of the Vijay Hazare Trophy and it’s still not clear if they will be fit for the Test series.
While skipper Virat Kohli is expected to comeback after a much needed three-week break, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara and Rishabh Pant are certainties.
Hanuma Vihari and Karun Nair will be the two middle-order back-ups while Bhuvneshwar Kumar is expected to comeback into the side.
Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav are two sure shot picks in the squad.
In case Ashwin misses out, Vihari’s part-time off-spin is one option and in the next line of spinners, the choice is between Krishnappa Gowtham and Jayant Yadav.
Shahbaz Nadeem despite his brilliant form is likely to miss out with Jadeja and Kuldeep already in the squad.
For the leg-spin option, there is Amit Mishra and Yuzvendra Chahal even though A team coach Rahul Dravid has termed the latter as “work in progress”.
With inputs from PTI
