IND vs WI 2025: BCCI Announces Test Squad for West Indies Series; Padikkal Returns, Karun Nair Dropped. India has announced their 15-member squad for the Test series against the West Indies, where Shubman Gill will captain the side and Ravindra Jadeja is the vice-captain. The squad marks a significant shift towards youth and form, with Devdutt Padikkal set to return and experienced batter Karun Nair not named to the squad.
Padikkal, who last played Tests in early 2023, has been rewarded for his domestic play. His remarkable run-scoring across formats put him in strong contention for a middle-order berth. On the other hand, it is difficult to ignore the fact that Nair, once recognized for his triple century, is currently on the outs after a struggle in a recent test series against England, where he accumulated just 205 runs in 8 innings with no hundreds.
The batting line will feature younger players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, and KL Rahul, while Dhruv Jurel and Narayan Jagadeesan will compete for the wicketkeeper’s slot.
India’s bowling attack will feature a combination of pace and spin. Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Prasidh Krishna will lead the pace attack, and Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, and Washington Sundar will complement the spin. Promising all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy retains his place after a strong debut series.
This squad signals a clear intent to build a younger core for the future, especially with several senior players still out of the red-ball setup.
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India Test Squad vs. West Indies:
Shubman Gill (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravindra Jadeja (VC), Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Narayan Jagadeesan (WK), Sai Sudharsan.
The first test is expected to begin in mid-October, with exact dates and venues to be announced soon.