The Indian cricket team is all set for the West Indies tour next month after suffering a devastating loss to Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) final. Starting on July 12 in Dominica, two Test matches will serve as the introduction to the tour to the Caribbean which will be followed by 3 ODIs and 5-match T20I series. This test series will also serve as the launch point for India's third WTC cycle campaign.
Meanwhile, the Indian cricket board has announced the squad for the Test and ODI team against the Caribbean team. However, the most talked about thing after the announcement was India’s veteran Test batter Cheteshwar Pujara’s exclusion from the team. This decision of the Indian selection committee has left the fans shocked after which they were fuming on social media.
New faces set to be introduced in the Test series
With the exclusion of Pujara from the team, the selectors have moved towards the new faces as Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad are all set to make their Test debut in the upcoming series. However, there were also some reports regarding the Indian captain Rohit Sharma getting rested for the series but that didn’t happen as he will be seen leading the team in the longest and the limited-overs format as well.
India’s premium fast bowler Mohammed Shami has given rest in both the Test and ODI series. Mukesh Kumar has replaced him in the squad and will be seen playing for the Indian team. Surprisingly, the management has given another chance to KS Bharat who has failed to impress in the Test format so far. Bharat also failed to contribute anything to the team in the WTC final. However, Ishan Kishan is also selected for the Test and it’d be interesting to see who will be the wicketkeeper.
IND vs WI, 2023, Test squad
Rohit Sharma (Capt), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (VC), KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini.
Here’s how fans reacted:
Ab niklega wtc final me haar ka gussa
— तोहार रविशवा (@Snakemaster756) June 23, 2023
Rohit Still leading the Side 😫😫Biggest Joke
— Karnataka Thalapathy Fan's Club (@AbhishekCH9) June 23, 2023
Sarfaraz again ignored
— Shahid_ (@shahid_ada) June 23, 2023
NAME BHARAT HAI PER BHARAT KE LIYE KHELTA NHI 💔😭
— HASNAIN ALAM (@MonishQ79283140) June 23, 2023
Pujara did more than Kohli in last 2-3 years lol 🤣
— GaltiSeMistakeHogaya (@AndBhala) June 23, 2023
Not interested in cricket anymore
— Aandhi_Bhakt🇮🇳 (@prameshSANATANI) June 23, 2023
Matlab Pujara ke nam sab dal diya n Rahane ab team se nahi niklega 2 sal ke liye 🤦🏻♂️
— Saurabh Ghule (@saurabhghule) June 23, 2023
So easily they've dropped pujara when he wasn't even a problem 😂🤣
— SHIV👑🇮🇳 (@shivamkumar___) June 23, 2023
Bye Bye pujju
— Kohlified. (@123perthclassic) June 23, 2023