India’s tour of West Indies | Possible end of road for Pujara, India picks Jaiswal and Gaikwad 

Veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara and senior pacer Umesh Yadav were dropped from India’s Test squad for the West Indies tour starting July 12 while three players got maiden call-ups.

The national selection panel on June 23 effectively brought curtains down on veteran Cheteshwar Pujara’s international career by dropping him from Indian Test squad for the two-Test series against the West Indies, starting on July 12.

Inclusion of powerhouse domestic performers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad in the 16-member squad is a clear indication that the four-member panel, headed by Shiv Sunder Das, is now looking at the next two-year World Test Championship cycle (2023-2025).

That Pujara will be dropped and skipper Rohit Sharma is likely to lead the Test side in the Caribbean was reported by the PTI recently.

The other significant development was Ajinkya Rahane’s re-appointment as the vice-captain of the Test side just after making an international comeback in the previous game.

While Mohammed Shami has been given complete rest from both Tests and ODIs after nearly three months of hectic competitive cricket, the selectors have indeed started the phasing out process by dropping the profligate Umesh Yadav and bringing in the consistent Kolkata seamer Mukesh Kumar in the main squad.

Navdeep Saini, whose career had been on a free-fall since the historic tour of Australia, also gets a chance for resurrection as his hit-the-deck (140 clicks) bowling might be effective on the slow Caribbean tracks.

All three new entrants — Jaiswal, Gaikwad and Mukesh — were the stand-by players for the WTC final. They have been very consistent in domestic cricket over past few seasons.