India vs West Indies 1st Test: Yashasvi Jaiswal To Open, Shubman Gill Will Be The New No.3 For Team India

With back-to-back WTC Final defeats in successive cycles, Indian team management will look to prepare a squad for the future on its road to redemption as the elusive ICC trophy continues to torment them.

The Indians were a force to reckon with in the red-ball format, until last year, but injuries to key players and consistently sub-par performance of batters have forced the think tank to go back to the drawing board.

Indians have played two Test matches on English soil in the past 13 months and ended up on the losing side. First against England which was the rescheduled fifth Test last year, and the second against Australia, in the WTC Final 2023.

The prime reason for India’s defeat in both the Tests in the early English summers – which were separated by 12 months – was their wrong team selection and poor batting.

Cheteshwar Pujara Was Dropped For Poor Show

Going into the new WTC Cycle, the selectors dropped India’s No.3 – Cheteshwar Pujara – for the West Indies tour. It now remains to be seen who will be the new number three for India after the senior top-order batter from Saurashtra – who failed to impress in both the innings of the WTC 2023 Final against Australia at The Oval – was snubbed.

What Are The Options for Team India for No. 3 Batter in Tests

The team management has three potential options for the new No. 3 in the red-ball format in the Caribbean. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal – the two talented batters – have been included in the red-ball squad. They have been rewarded for scoring truckloads of runs in the domestic circuit and IPL 2023. But the team management has given a preference to Jaiswal for the opening Test.

While interacting with media persons on the eve of the opening Test, India captain Rohit Sharma confirmed that Jaiswal will be making his debut tomorrow. The Mumbaikar is set to open innings for India while Shubman Gill – will now bat at number three.

“Yashasvi Jaiswal will make his debut. Shubman Gill talked with Rahul (Dravid) bhai, he told that he played most of his cricket at 3 or 4 and he can do well for the team more if he is playing there, so he will be playing at 3.”

In-form batting sensation, Shubman Gill – who has been opening the innings for India across formats with skipper Rohit Sharma – can also be looked at as the number three batter. He is ideally more suited to batting in the middle order.

The 23-year-old rising India star is already being hailed as the next big thing in the world cricket, and an heir apparent to Virat Kohli. Experts believe that Gill could be the next number four for India once Kohli decides to hang up his boots. Hence, making him bat one drop does make a lot of sense.

Yashasvi Jaiswal is the frontrunner

However, Gill will be opening the batting for India against the West Indies in both Tests for the simple logic that he has been doing it for quite some time. In such a scenario, left-handed Jaiswal has been given the responsibility of batting one-down, while Gaikwad might have to wait. Jaiswal, who is 21, opens for his Ranji side Mumbai, West Zone and Rest of India in red-ball cricket.

Gill having a chat with the head coach Rahul Dravid – who has been one of the best batters in world cricket at one down – before picking up the responsibility at number three will do him a world of good.

Trial by fire for Yashasvi Jaiswal

While the absence of players like Pujara (dropped), KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer (both out injured) presents a golden opportunity for young Jaiswal to prove his mettle and cement his place in the Test squad.

However, the experienced bowling attack of West Indies, comprising seasoned campaigners Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel, Alazarri Joseph and Jason Holder will be a challenge for the rookie batter. The pitch in Dominica traditionally favours the slow-ball bowlers, which could be good news for the Mumbaikar.

But a good show in the Caribbean will give Jaiswal the confidence to do well in the forthcoming Test tours in South Africa – at the end of the year – and in Australia (2024-25). India vs West Indies Test Records and Stats: IND vs WI Head-To-Head Results, Most Runs, Most Wickets

The new WTC cycle will be tougher compared to the previous two campaigns for India because their pace bowling unit has gone weak in the absence of premier seamer Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami’s struggle to pick up wickets. In the upcoming series against West Indies, Mohammed Siraj is going to lead the pace battery with an overall experience of 18 Tests under his belt.