India will begin their World Test Championship cycle on Wednesday when they take on West Indies in the first Test of the two-match series at Windsor Park in Dominica. The Indian team is set to hit the transition button with the much-anticipated debut of Yashasvi Jaiswal in the two-Test series against a wounded West Indies, which is searching for a road to redemption. Cheteshwar Pujara's highly-debated exit has created a slot in the Indian top-order and the immensely talented Mumbai left-hander will hope that he lives up to his 'name' and promise that he has shown at the first-class level before being thrown at the deep end of the pool.
Here's what we think could be India's Playing XI against West Indies for the 1st Test:
Rohit Sharma: The Indian skipper will look to give his team a brilliant start as he will eye a big score. In the recent outing against Australia at the WTC final, Rohit got out for just 15 in the first innings but scored 43 in the second one. The batting powerhouse is definitely capable of much more than that.
Yashasvi Jaiswal: The 21-year-old powerful batter is having the time of his life as a successful season of IPL paved his way into the national team. The youngster is all but confirmed to open the batting with Rohit Sharma and it will be a brilliant occasion for him to make a sparkling first impression.
Shubman Gill: The young talented opener needs no introduction as he has been grabbing a lot of attention in the past few months. However, he failed to leave a mark against Australia in the WTC final and could score only 31 runs in the entire match. Gill will look to bounce back against Windies in the first Test and at No. 3, he will look to add another dimension to his game.
Virat Kohli: Virat Kohli battled through his lean patch and roared back to form in 2022 and hasn't looked back ever since. He scored 14 and 49 runs against Australia in the WTC final and will be looking for a bigger innings against West Indies in the first Test.
Ajinkya Rahane: Rahane made a comeback into the national team against Australia during the WTC final and showed his batting prowess. He scored 89 and 46 and emerged as India's highest run-scorer of the match. To add cherry on the top, he has been named as India's vice-captain for the Tests against West Indies.
Ishan Kishan: After KS Bharat failed to leave a mark in the few opportunities given to him, the selectors might go with young Ishan Kishan as their wicketkeeping option. The young star is yet to make his debut in the Tests but can bring loads of power to the batting unit with his aggressive style.
Ravindra Jadeja: The star all-rounder became India's hero in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia with a total of 22 wickets. Later, he took four wickets in the WTC final. He will definitely find a place in the Playing XI in the first Test because of his all-round skills.
Ravichandran Ashwin: The veteran player bagged the Player of the Series award in the BGT 2023 along with Jadeja and emerged as the highest wicket-taker of the series. However, he was not named in the Playing XI for the WTC final, which India eventually lost. As the conditions are in the favour of spin in Dominica, the selectors might definitely go with Ashwin.
Shardul Thakur: Though Shardul played his last Test against England in July 2022, Team India might still go with him, in order to strengthen their pace as well as batting attack.
Mohammed Siraj: The senior pacer roared back to form in the WTC final as he scalped five wickets. In the absence of Mohammed Shami, the entire bowling responsibility will be on the shoulders of Siraj.
Jaydev Unadkat: The experienced pacer will provide a good support to Siraj as Shami is not there.