The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday, September 25, ignored KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah and instead picked 36-year-old all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja as India’s vice-captain for the
upcoming two-match Test series against the West Indies. Jadeja, who tops the ICC Test all-rounder’s ranking, was in red-hot form with the bat in the five-match Test series against England a couple of months back.
In the team picked for the home series, the selectors have also included Axar Patel, but there was no place for Karun Nair, Shardul Thakur, Arshdeep Singh, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Akash Deep and Anshul Kamboj. Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant was not considered for selection due to a foot injury that he suffered on Day 1 of the 4th India-England Test in Manchester.
Jadeja has played a total of 86 Tests for India so far, in which he has scored 3886 runs and picked up 330 wickets. The Jamnagar-based cricketer has never captained India in the past, but in an interview with former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin a few months back, he expressed his desire to captain the Indian team.
Pant was India’s vice-captain for the five-match Test series against England, but since he was not available for selection due to injury, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee picked Jadeja for Gill’s deputy role.
It was expected that the board could consider Rahul or Bumrah for the role, as they have captained India in the five-day format of the game in the past, but both of them were ignored for Jadeja.
India’s squad for two-match Test series against the West Indies: Shubman Gill (C), Ravindra Jadeja (VC), KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Narayan Jagadeesan (WK), Devdutt Padikkal, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, B Sai Sudharsan
India-West Indies series to start on October 2
The two-match Test series between India and the West Indies will start on October 2 in Ahmedabad. Narendra Modi Stadium will host the series opener from October 2 to 6, and the second Test is scheduled to take place at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium from October 10 to 14.
India vs West Indies Test series schedule
| DATES | MATCH | VENUE | START TIME (IST) |
| October 2-6 | 1st Test | Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad | 9:30 AM |
| October 10-14 | 2nd Test | Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi | 9:30 AM |
