Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has picked his playing XI ahead of the first Test between the hosts West Indies and India, starting July 12. Harbhajan expects two players to make their debuts for team India in the first Test – Mukesh Kumar and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Notably, India will play two tests on the West Indies tour, the first one starting July 12 in Dominica, and the second Test will be at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad between July 20-24.
Harbhajan has kept India’s opening position unchanged with Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma in his XI. Former ace off-spinner also hopes to see Jaydev Unadkat in the bowling line-up. Unadkat featured for team India in the Test series against Bangladesh in December 2022, meanwhile, Mukesh has been rewarded with an India call-up after his brilliant and consistent performance for Bengal in the domestic circuit. In the spin department, he picked Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
“Shubman has got that position based on his performance. So his position should not be touched. I will play Yashasvi at No. 3. I hope he makes his debut and scores a lot of runs. He is a top player. Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane will play at No. 4 and No. 5,” Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel.
“I will play Unadkat. Because he is performing in domestic cricket for a long time but hasn’t got the opportunity. So I hope he gets the chance to play there. At No. 11, I will have Mukesh Kumar. He has done extremely well in the Ranji Trophy,” he further added.
Rohit Sharma and co will have trouble choosing the third pacer for the first Test in WI –
Interestingly, Harbhajan has dropped Shardul Thakur who was a part of India’s 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) final XI and was a top performer in the marquee event last month. Although Axar Patel is also in the squad, the veteran spinner has gone with Ashwin and Jadeja to form the spin attack.
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