3 Indian players who failed to grab their opportunities during the West Indies Test series
Team India commenced the 2023-25 cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC) with a 1-0 series victory over the West Indies in the Caribbean. However, they were left to rue the presence of rain, which washed out Day 5 of the second Test and prevented them from completing what seemed like a certain whitewash.
India will now turn their attention to the ODI format, with the 2023 World Cup on the horizon. They will next be seen in action in the Test format only post the quadrennial event, when they head to South Africa for a challenging two-match series.
When the selectors pick the squad for that series, they will no doubt have an eye on how the players performed against the Windies. Some of them who could have become staples of the side squandered the chances that were presented to them.
Here are three Indian players who failed to grab their opportunities during the West Indies Test series.
#3 Ajinkya Rahane
After an impressive showing on his Test comeback in the WTC final against Australia, Ajinkya Rahane was always going to be picked in the squad for the West Indies series. However, him being appointed the vice-captain came as a shock.
Fans and pundits predicted that Rahane would become inconsistent once again, with his long career indicating the same pattern. They were proved right as the middle-order batter notched up twin failures in the Caribbean, where he previously held an excellent record. Both dismissals came while attempting loose strokes against fast bowlers.
Only Jaydev Unadkat, Mukesh Kumar and Mohammed Siraj (among those who batted at least once) scored fewer runs than Rahane (11) for India in the two-Test series.
That brings us to a pertinent question - why is he the vice-captain? Only the selectors can answer that question.
#2 Jaydev Unadkat
Jaydev Unadkat toiled away for years in domestic cricket without earning any call-ups to the Indian team before finally breaking into the mix last year. He got to play both Tests against the Windies as the away side were without Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav.
Unadkat, though, couldn't make an impact. Although he was fairly accurate throughout, he didn't appear to be too threatening and didn't pick up a single wicket in the series. The left-armer was the only Indian bowler who failed to register a breakthrough.
Unadkat will still probably be in Test contention, but he had the chance to leapfrog the more established names in the pecking order. He will regret the fact that he squandered an excellent chance to make a mark with significant contributions.
#1 Shubman Gill
Shubman Gill asked to bat at No. 3 ahead of the West Indies Tests, and the team management duly obliged. The youngster, however, didn't make an impact in his first two innings before batting out time in his third and final knock of the series.
Gill finished the assignment with 45 runs at an average of 22.5, getting dismissed by pace and spin once apiece. He faced only 60 balls in the series even as Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli plundered runs around him.
Gill could've taken steps towards nailing down a role in the middle order, but he instead threw up more questions. He's too good a player to fail at the highest level, though, and needs to be backed through this phase.