West Indies vs India 2019: 3 major takeaways from the squads announced by India
Post the massive heartbreaks and the absolute stunner of a final in the World Cup where England were crowned champions, it is back to the grind for all teams across the globe. The focus will be on putting behind what happened in the World Cup while keeping an eye on the future.
With the ICC Test Championships expected to start soon, all Tests starting from the India vs Windies matches and the Ashes will have even more value and significance. Every match and result matters a lot; bilateral Test series are only going to get more enthralling and exciting.
As far as limited overs matches are concerned, there’s a lot to play for as the T20 World Cup is around the corner. All the teams would look to have a strong focus on building a unit that remains fresh and can perform to the best of their abilities in T20Is.
The squads for India’s tour of West Indies starting from 3 August 2019 were announced yesterday. There were a lot of ripples created by the announcement, not least of which was the big news that MS Dhoni had opted out of the tour to serve the Indian Army for two months.
Chief selector MSK Prasad did mention that Dhoni is no longer the first-choice wicket-keeper for India, and that Rishabh Pant is going to be the first choice wicket-keeper across formats from now on. Apart from Dhoni not featuring in this tour, here are some of the major takeaways from the squads announced:
1. India with a full-strength Test squad look to retain the #1 ranking
India had the option of resting some of their key players for the two-match series against the Windies. Keeping in mind the amount of cricket their players have played in recent times, right from the IPL to the World Cup, it was widely expected that some key members - especially the ones who feature in all three squads - would be rested.
But given the emphasis on retaining the #1 ranking in Test cricket and also to boost their chances in the ICC Test Championship, India have named a full-strength squad to take on the Windies. The return of Test specialists like Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravichandran Ashwin is a good sign for India.
Led by Virat Kohli, one can expect strong intensity from India and for the standard of cricket to be high. There are a few things that should arouse the interest of fans such as:
1. How will the returning Shikhar Dhawan fare as an opener? Who will his opening partner be - KL Rahul or Mayank Agarwal?
2. Ravichandran Ashwin recently had a very productive county stint with Nottinghamshire . Can he replicate that form against the Windies?
3. How will Rishabh Pant fare in his first series as the designated first choice wicket-keeper, ahead of Wriddhiman Saha?