IND vs WI Test Series Preview: Wind of change in Team India as Windies fight to put smiles back on faces of fans

This powerful Indian side has begun a sort of transition in Test cricket. I feel the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are moving into the twilight of their careers. We have already seen Cheteshwar Pujara being dropped and his chances of returning to the Test squad look bleak now. Many are saying that he might be done with his international career. At the same time, there will a wind of change as far as Indian team is concerned. Yashasvi Jaiswal looks like the man who will replace Pujara at No 3. These two Test matches offer a great opportunity to Jaiswal to cement his name on that spot. The No 3 and 4 spots in the Test XI always goes to the most class players in the team. India have been blessed with such classy players for a long time.

The scariest thing for me, from India’s Point of View, is the pace-bowling department. Mohammed Shami, the leader of the attack, has been rested, which is a fair decision as he has played non-stop cricket this year and with World Cup closing in on, it is important to rotate the players. But with Jasprit Bumrah also not there, the fast-bowling department looks thin on experience. It will be interesting to see whether Bumrah can return to play Test cricket again with his back issue ruling him out for one year. Both star pacers have performed brilliantly in India and abroad and have been the reason behind the team’s success in Tests.

With Shami and Bumrah missing, the leader of the attack is Mohammed Siraj, who has played only 19 Tests with just 52 wickets. Jaydev Unadkat comes with massive first-class experience on his back but lacks experience at this level. Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini have only played a few Tests between them. Mukesh Kumar is only just starting in his international career. At the same time, this provides a good opportunity for the young pacers in the team to rise and shine. When the experienced folks are missing, new stars are born.

The first Test is in Dominica, which is likely to suit spinners more than pacers because of its dry surface. Port of Spain, however, will see more seam movement and bounce. Keep an eye on R Ashwin, who was surprisingly not picked for the World Test Championship final but had a great time with both bat and ball in 2016 in Caribbean.

West Indies playing at home will be a different kettle of fish. It is true that West Indies limitedovers sides have been a big disappointment recently. They had a poor outing in the World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe and will miss out on the fifty-overs mega event for the first time. They did not qualify for the T20 World Cup last year too. But in red-ball cricket, West Indies are still doing well.

Watch out for Windies’ pace battery in this series. Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel and Alzarri Joseph are three quality, world-class bowlers. Jason Holder is more than a handful Test bowler with his subtle late movement. The Test side will know the fans are quite disappointed with the ODI World Cup disappointment, which is fresh in memory, and it can work as a motivation to do well against the Indians in the Tests to bring back smile on the faces of the fans again.

While pace-bowling in West Indies’ strength, India’s is their spin bowling. There is a lot of quality, skills and variety. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are world class spinners. It will be interesting to see the balance of the side.

India are at an interesting turn in Test cricket. With two ageing superstars and a wealth of young talent at the helm, the focus will be on finding next group of match-winners. This series will pose different kind of challenges for India. One, they need to bounce back after the disappointment of losing the WTC final. Two, start finding the next list of champions who will win matches for India in future. Test cricket will, of course, be a test of skills.

I am particularly looking forward to watch Ashwin bowl. He will have a point to prove. He missed out on the WTC final despite being such a world class all-rounder. So, he will be eager to get a couple of five-wicket hauls and score some runs to prove his worth again.

West Indies, on the other hand, have so much to prove too as a unit. As I said before, they are not a bad Test side. But the impact of poor show by the limited overs’ side will be on back of their mind.