WI Vs IND: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill Land In Caribbean; Virat Kohli To Arrive Later
New Delhi: Indian captain Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and several other members of the touring party have arrived in the Caribbean on Sunday ahead of the two-match Test series, which will begin on July 12 at Dominica. Earlier on Saturday, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur were among the first members to arrive in Barbados.
Virat Kohli, who is still in holiday mood, will touch down in the Caribbean Islands next week from London but is unclear on his date of arrival. The former India captain has been staying in London for the past one month spending a quality time with his family and also made a short trip to Netherlands last month.
The West Indies series will mark the beginning of the World Test Championship (WTC) cycle 2023–25 for India, who made final appearances on two occasions but failed to win any. While India lost to New Zealand in the 2021 final, their latest summit clash defeat came against Australia last month.
Meanwhile, West Indies are going through a tough time as they two-time champions were thrown out of contention for a place in the 2023 ODI World Cup after they lost three consecutive matches in the ongoing Qualifiers in Zimbabwe. India and the West Indies have squared off 98 times in Tests, with India winning 22 and the Windies taking 30.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and skipper Rohit Sharma have reached West Indies.
: Rohit Sharma#CricTracker #YashasviJaiswal #RohitSharma pic.twitter.com/N29hxrHTSP
— CricTracker (@Cricketracker) July 2, 2023
Before the start of two-match Test series, India will also play one two-day warm-up game at Kensington Oval beginning on July 5. Additionally, the Indian team will hold a one-week camp in Barbados from July 1–7.
The last time these two teams met, India defeated West Indies by a 2-0 margin. The visitors will definitely start favourites despite missing some of the key players like Mohammed Shami and Cheteshwar Pujara in the side this time. In the absence of Shami, Mohammed Siraj will be responsible for leading the pace attack while Jaiswal is likely to make his Test debut.
India Squads:
Test: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya, Rahane (VC), KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini.
ODI: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (VC), Shardul Thakur, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, Mukesh Kumar.