India vs West Indies- The right squad?

India will play their first series against West Indies after the World Cup loss. The tour kicks off from August 3rd and will have 3 T20s, 3 ODI’s along with 2 test matches. Chief selector MSK Prasad announced the squad. Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini and Rahul Chahar are the new faces who have been given a chance. This is an opportunity for the youngsters and selectors would look to solve the No.4 mystery. Hardik Pandya and Dhoni have been rested and Virat Kohli amid all the split-captaincy rumours will lead the team in all 3 formats. Shikhar Dhawan returns to the squad after his world cup injury and Dinesh Karthick has been left out from the squad.

Here is the complete squad for all 3 formats:
T20- Virat Kohli ©, Rohit Sharma (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wk), Krunal Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini.

ODI- Virat Kohli ©, Rohit Sharma (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kedar Jadhav, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Navdeep Saini.

Test- Virat Kohli ©, Ajinkya Rahane (VC), Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, C Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (WK) Wriddhiman Saha (WK), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma & Umesh Yadav.

The Selection Committee clearly looks forward to build a team for the future. But the test side that has 2 wicket-keepers with Shah and Pant. Who will the first choice keeper be as MSK Prasad said in the press conference that he wants Pant to groom and take over the baton from Dhoni.
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T-20 squad: I don’t see deepak chahar as a t-20 bowler to be very honest. So I am not happy with his selection.

Odi: kedar Jadhav is a way backward. If India wanted to see forward I think krunal pandya would have been a better option. Better bowler, more suited at number 6. Shubhman Gill should have been given a place in place of Manish pandey. I know and understand selectors don’t see him as a lower order batsman but I think he can be grommed at number 4 with rishabh pant coming at number 5. Even kohli adjusted at number 4 in his starting career. Shubhman if placed right into the team now will atleast get a hang of big matches and dressing room.

Test: virat kohli and Jasprit Bumrah should have been rested. Also wridhiman saha as a backup wicketkeeper is again a way backward. Ks Bharat or maybe sanju samson could have been given a chance

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Prasad clarified that Saha is in as selector’s standard policy of set player getting back his place after injury. He also said that Bharat is right in middle of things and Pant, Saha & Bharat are three keepers for Tests.

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I am not happy with prasad also. Anyway, I feel samson deserves a chance… And if he doesn’t get against West Indies, I don’t know if he will even get a chance or not. Don’t want him to be the next amol majumdar

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From ODI team, Jadhav could have been left out. They could have selected an young player like Gill. I don’t think rohit is fit for tests.

Looking at West Indies performances in all 3 formats. I thing more exposure should be given to young guns and the experience guns should control the youth jubilant.

I am happy with the T20 selection but in ODI and Test there are very few young guns

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I feel that it is a balanced squad, especially when you talk about the fast bowling department in the limited overs. Navdeep Saini, and Khaleel Ahmed are exciting prospects to say the least. Kedar Jhadav has been a decent option for the Indian cricket team with both bat and ball but the board must now be ruthless with their approach and think about the 2023 World Cup where superstars of tomorrow can influence your side to victory. Age isn’t on the side of Jhadav, especially as the clock ticks to 2023, so Shubman Gill just had to be there, especially after his Plyaer of the Series performance against West Indies A

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