cricbarbados Story)
After losing the finals of the World Test Championship to Australia last month, India will be back in action as they face the West Indies in a multi-format series. The first of a two-match Test series gets the tour underway and it takes place in Roseau, Dominica starting July 12. This will mark the beginning of the 2023-2025 cycle of the World Test Championship for both sides.
Rohit Sharma and Co. are currently in Barbados, getting acclimatized to the conditions in the Caribbean. They took part in a two-day practice match at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. Some videos from the practice session emerged where captain Rohit Sharma and youngster Yashasvi Jaiswal were seen hitting ferocious pull shots towards the boundary. While Sharma cleared the fielder at deep fine leg to pick up a maximum, the southpaw managed to clear the in-field with his mistimed pull.
India’s warm up match.
Video Courtesy: Instagram/cricbarbados#IndianCricketTeam pic.twitter.com/ZawSnvYsqt
— Aniket (@anikkkett) July 5, 2023
The Indian team faced a lot of criticism after losing the WTC final, yet another knockout match at an ICC event. The experienced Cheteshwar Pujara, who struggled to find his feet in the final, has been dropped from the side as India look for a new No. 3 batter.
There are a few options that India can go with. They can hand a debut cap to either Jaiswal or Ruturaj Gaikwad and slot them in at No. 3. Another option could be to drop Shubman Gill down to No. 3 and open with either Jaiswal or Gaikwad. There is a school of thought that Gill could play his best cricket in the longest format of the game while batting at No. 3.
The Punjab batter has shown his mettle in ODIs as well as in T20Is, averaging 65.55 and 40.40 in the two white-ball formats, respectively. However, in Tests, Gill averages 32.89 in 16 matches and maybe No. 3 could be an ideal spot for him to show his potential. It will be interesting to see how India lines up for the first Test.