The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday announced a 15-player squad for the upcoming two-Test series against the West Indies, starting October 2. Shubman Gill will lead the side, with Ravindra Jadeja as his deputy in the absence of Rishabh Pant.
Devdutt Padikkal, who last appeared in Tests during the first game of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in November 2024, scoring 0 and 25 in two innings, has made a comeback. Earlier this month, the left-hander scored a century in the first unofficial Test against Australia A in Lucknow.
Dhruv Jurel, who replaced the injured Rishabh Pant in the playing XI during the final Test against England in August, has been named wicketkeeper for the Windies series, with N Jagadeesan included as backup. Pant, who was vice-captain during the recent England series, suffered a serious foot injury in the fourth Test and was subsequently ruled out of the fifth and final game.
Karun Nair, who had a modest tour of England marking his comeback to Tests after eight years, has been dropped from the squad. Pacer Prasidh Krishna, despite suffering a head injury while fielding in the second unofficial Test against Australia A on Wednesday, has been included.
Shreyas Iyer has not been considered for selection after requesting a six-month break from red-ball cricket. He recently captained the India A side against Australia A in the first of two four-day unofficial Tests before handing over captaincy duties to Jurel for the second game.
The series opener will be played in Ahmedabad, followed by the second Test in Delhi from October 10. This will be India’s first Test series after the 2-2 draw in England for the inaugural Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
India currently sit third in the ICC Test rankings, behind Australia and Sri Lanka, despite having played more matches than the two teams above them.
India Squad:
Shubman Gill (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravindra Jadeja (VC), Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, N Jagadeesan, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav
