Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad were among the top performers in this year's Indian Premier League (IPL) and their consistency was rewarded on Friday as both youngsters were picked in the India squad for the two-match Test series against West Indies. While Jaiswal was just part of the Test squad, Gaikwad was also included in the ODI squad. Veteran India skipper Ravichandran Ashwin took to Twitter to post a heartfelt message for both the youngsters after their maiden call-up to the Indian cricket team.
"So very happy for @ybj_19 & @Ruutu1331. Well deserved," the veteran spinner tweeted.
Cheteshwar Pujara and Umesh Yadav were the big names missing from the Indian cricket team Test squad which will be travelling to West Indies in July. Pujara had a disappointing outing at the World Test Championship (WTC) Final against Australia while the decision to pick Umesh over veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was met with a lot of criticism.
Fast bowler Mohammed Shami was also rested for the series with Navdeep Saini getting a call-up. In the pace department, Jaydev Unadkat kept his spot while Delhi Capitals pacer Mukesh Kumar received his maiden India call-up.
Ajinkya Rahane was back as vice-captain for the two-match Test series.
India will also play three ODIs against the West Indies after the Test series for which a 17-member team under Rohit was announced the BCCI selectors.
India Test squad: Rohit Sharma (Capt), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (VC), KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini.
India's ODI squad: Rohit Sharma (Capt), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (VC), Shardul Thakur, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, Mukesh Kumar.
(With PTI inputs)