Karun Nair OUT! BCCI confirms India squad for West Indies Test series

On the morning of September 25, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a 15-member squad for the upcoming Test series against the West Indies. It will be a 2-match Test series, starting from October 2 this year. The board has made a few changes for the series. 

As it was expected, Shubman Gill remains as the captain of team India Test side, but with a new deputy. Rishabh Pant has not recovered from the leg injury he sustained during the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy, so the team management had to select a new vice captain for the series to assist Gill in leadership duties. Experienced all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is named as the vice captain of the team.

Because of the absence of Rishabh Pant, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee had to reshuffle the wicketkeeping department. Dhruv Jurel is expected to be in the playing XI against the West Indies, and Narayan Jagadeesan to remain as a cover for the position. During the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy, when Pant ruled out the Oval Test, Jurel came into the playing combination, and Jagadeesan joined Team India as a reserve keeper. 

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Multiple changes in squad for West Indies series 

BCCI has taken an interesting decision by dropping Karun Nair from the Test squad. He made his international comeback through the 5-match Test series against England, which was not a memorable account for him. In place of Nair, Devdutt Padikkal is named in the squad. Padikkal has been in brilliant form in the recent past.

Doubts over Jasprit Bumrah's availability were there. But the selectors decided to keep him in the squad along with Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna, the other two pacers. Axar Patel returns to the Test side to tie a knot with Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja. Nitish Kumar Reddy remains in the team as the pace bowling all-rounder. Shardul Thakur was dropped to make room for Patel, a spin bowling all-rounder in place of a pace bowling all-rounder. 

India squad for West Indies Tests:

Shubman Gill (captain), Ravindra Jadeja (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, and Narayan Jagadeesan.