Ravindra Jadeja has been named Team India’s vice-captain for the upcoming two-match Test series against West Indies. India cricket team chief selector Ajit Agarkar announced a 15-member squad for the series which is scheduled to begin from October 2 onwards. Rishabh Pant, who was named Team India’s vice-captain in the series against England, is yet to recover completely and hence has been left out of the side.
Jadeja to don VC’s hat in IND vs WI Tests
Following the retirement of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli from Tests earlier this year, the selection committee had decided to name Shubman Gill as the new captain and Pant as his deputy. However, Pant suffered a fractured toe in the IND vs ENG 4th Test after being struck on his foot by a delivery off Bumrah. While the timeline for his recovery was slated to be 6 weeks, he is yet to completely recover. Hence, Jadeja has been named Gill’s deputy in the absence of Pant.
“Rishabh Pant hasn’t quite recovered for this series, we’re hoping that he will recover for the next one. That’s why we picked Jadeja as vice captain,” Agarkar explained.
Jadeja is the senior most member in the current Indian side. The southpaw, who is India’s most reliable all-rounder in the longest format of the game, has never captained the Test side in the past. Jadeja was last seen in action in the IND vs ENG Test series where he put up splendid performances with both bat and ball. The all-rounder amassed 516 runs, including five half-centuries and a hundred. With the ball, he managed to take 7 wickets in 5 Tests.
India squad for IND vs WI Tests
Shubman Gill (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal. KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja (VC), Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Narayan Jagadeesan
