India Squad For West Indies Tests: Karun Nair Likely To Be Replaced By RCB Star, Says Report

India's squad for the home Test assignment against West Indies is likely to be announced on September 24, with a couple of changes expected to be made. One of the players whose place in the team is in grave danger is Karun Nair, a domestic stalwart who made his return to the national team on the tour of England, but couldn't produce the sort of performance that the management desired. With Rishabh Pant injured, Dhruv Jurel is set to be the No. 1 choice behind the stumps, while Narayan Jagadeesan is likely to be added to the roster as cover.

Against England, Nair ended up scoring 205 runs in eight innings, with an average of 25.6, while going past the fifty-mark on just one occasion. As per a report in Cricbuzz, Nair could see himself miss out on the 2-match series, with Devdutt Padikkal being preferred over him for the middle-order spot.

Though India only drew the England series 2-2, batters in both teams put mountains of runs in the 5-match series. A whopping 7,000 runs were scored in the series, including 21 centuries and 29 half-centuries.

In comparison to Nair, Padikkal has shown great form of late, scoring 150 against the touring Australia A side in Lucknow a few days ago. Nair, on the other hand, hasn't played competitive cricket since the conclusion of the England tour.

There are talks over the place of Nitish Reddy's selection too. But, with there being no alternative to the pace-bowling all-rounder in red-ball cricket, the selectors are likely to persist with him.

BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia has already confirmed that the Indian squad will be announced after a meeting on Wednesday, with the series opener to be held on October 02 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The second from October 10 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi.

India's Likely 15-man Squad for West Indies Test Series: Shubman Gill (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Nitish Reddy and N Jagadeesan.

Can West Indies challenge India?

West Indies have already announced their squad, recalling Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Alick Athanaze to strengthen their top order, while left-arm spinner Khary Pierre is a new face in the team.

Head coach Daren Sammy spoke of Pierre's selection, saying he has been picked to work as a second spinner as Gudakesh Motie has been rested to focus on the T20 World Cup.

Ranked eighth in Tests, West Indies have a lot a lot to improve on if they are to challenge India in the whites.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team West Indies Cricket Team Karun Nair India vs West Indies 2025 Devdutt Padikkal Cricket