Shikhar Dhawan has been dropped from India’s squad for the upcoming two-Test series against West Indies.
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.
Murali Vijay, who has done well in county cricket after the poor tour of England was also ignored. KL Rahul, the other opener in fray, has retained his place in the squad.
Meanwhile, considering their workload, pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah have been rested. Seamer Ishant Sharma and all-rounder Hardik Pandya were left out as they are yet to recover from their injuries.
Indian team for the Windies Tests: Virat Kohli (captain), KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur.
The first Test will be played at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot from October 4-8 followed by the second Test at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad from October 12-16.