3 players who might have played their last innings for India
The Indian squads for the tour of West Indies comprising of 3 ODIs, 3 T20Is and 2 Test matches have been announced. The much talked about selection dilemma surrounding MS Dhoni has been put to rest for the time being with Dhoni himself opting out of the tour.
Prithvi Shaw, Hardik Pandya and Vijay Shankar missed out due to injuries while Shikhar Dhawan is making a welcome return to the team after sustaining a thumb fracture in the World Cup. Jasprit Bumrah has been rested for the ODIs and T20Is.
In the absence of some experienced players, the selectors have done a fantastic job by drafting in youngsters like Khaleel Ahmed, Navdeep Saini, Rahul Chahar and Deepak Chahar. And the re-introduction of players like Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey and Washington Sundar has emphasized the fact that the selectors are on the lookout to build a team for the future.
The selection of Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja for all the three formats of the game should augur well for the team as they are the “X-factors” in this squad.
From having three wicket-keepers in the playing XI in the World Cup, the selectors have taken a U-turn by selecting Pant as the lone specialist wicket-keeper in white-ball cricket. KL Rahul will be the backup part-time wicket-keeper.
India will certainly miss a fast-bowling all-rounder in the absence of both Pandya and Shankar. The selectors have made their intentions quite clear by not selecting Test specialists like Ajinkya Rahane and Ravichandran Ashwin in the ODI squad.
By not selecting Bhuvneshwar Kumar for Tests and Yuzvendra Chahal for T20Is, the selectors have achieved the dual goal of giving breaks to a few players and at the same time presenting the other players with an opportunity to showcase their talent.
The selectors have thrown a lifeline at Kedar Jadhav, but some of the other players have not been that fortunate. In this article, let us look at three such players who might have played their last innings for India based on the current selection.
Test squad
#3 Parthiv Patel
In the absence of Wriddhiman Saha, Parthiv Patel found himself in the scheme of things for India’s Test squad for the tour of Australia in December 2018. The last time he played a Test for India was in January 2018, against South Africa. Since Rishabh Pant’s debut in August 2018, Patel has found himself as the second keeper in away tours.
Now with the return of Saha for the Test matches, Patel’s career is as good as finished. Having made his Test debut for India much before MS Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik, and represented India in 25 Test matches spread over a span of 16 years, Patel might have played his last innings for India.