India vs West Indies 2018: 4 milestones that can be achieved by Indian players in the Test series
After dominating the Asia Cup 2018, India is now all set to take on West Indies for two Tests, five ODIs, and three T20Is. The West Indies' tour of India will commence on October 4 with a Test match at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot.
BCCI has announced the squad for the Test series against West Indies. Plenty of young faces have been included in the squad for the Test series. Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, and Mohammed Siraj are three of them. Besides that, key bowlers have been rested keeping the Australia tour in mind.
India squad for Windies Tests: Virat Kohli (C), KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (VC), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (WK), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, and Shardul Thakur.
Thus, before we head into the Test series, let us have a look at four milestones that are expected to be achieved by the Indian team in the upcoming Test series:
#1 Ajinkya Rahane racing towards the 6500-mark in international cricket
India's deputy to Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, has been India's premier Test batsman for quite a long time now. With as many as 3000 Test runs to his name, Rahane has proved to be a good cadet in India's scheme of things, particularly in Test cricket. However, there has been one thing that has been hitting Ajinkya Rahane in the recent past - his inability to perform on home turfs.
Nonetheless, come the Test series against West Indies, Ajinkya would like better that record with some quality batting display. A good Test series against West Indies with the bat will instil a great sense of confidence in Rahane ahead of the series against Australia in November.
Besides that, Ajinkya Rahane is on the verge of a unique milestone in international cricket. Rahane is just 13 runs shy of the 6500-run mark. Amassing these runs in the coming Test series, the Mumbaikar will become the 20th Indian to score 6500 or more runs in international cricket.