West Indies

New Delhi [India], September 25 (ANI): Chief selector Ajit Agarkar has opened up on the omission of middle-order batter Karun Nair from India’s Test squad for the upcoming home Test series against West Indies.

Nair, who returned to the Test side earlier this year, managed 205 runs in four matches against England, including a fifty, at an average of 25.62. His last appearance came in the final Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, where he scored a fighting half-century, which India won by just 6 runs.

Explaining the selection call, Agarkar said, “I mean obviously, frankly, we expected a little bit more from him, he has played four Tests. We have spoken about one innings. As the way it is, I mean, we feel Padikkal (Devdutt) offers a little bit more at this point, and I wish we could have given everyone 15 or 20 Tests. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.”

Agarkar backed Devdutt Padikkal’s inclusion, pointing to his recent contributions with the bat.

“Padikkal’s been in the Test squad. I mean, he was in the Test squad in Australia. Played in Dharamsala against England, got a 50 there. He’s shown some decent form with India A. Yeah, frankly, we expected a bit more from Karun on the England trip,” he added.

Nair, who once struck an iconic triple century in Test cricket, finds himself out of favour yet again as the selectors turn towards younger players like Padikkal to bolster India’s middle order.

India will play their first Test on October 2 in Ahmedabad. They will play two Test matches against West Indies.

Despite speculation that Shubman Gill might be rested due to his involvement in India’s Asia Cup T20I campaign, the selectors have opted for a full-strength squad, including Jasprit Bumrah, for the World Test Championship campaign.

Ravindra Jadeja has been announced as the vice captain.

Prasidh Krishna, who had a promising run in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, has been included despite suffering a head injury during India A’s second match against Australia A in Lucknow on Wednesday, which forced him to leave the field.

Rishabh Pant misses out as he continues to recover from a foot injury.

The Indian team will play the Asia Cup final on Sunday, September 28, giving Gill and a few other players just a few days before joining the Test squad. The selectors’ decision to go with a strong line-up reflects India’s intent to keep up a strong World Test Championship campaign.

India squad: Shubman Gill (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, N Jagadeesan, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav. (ANI)

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