INDvsWI: Ravichandran Ashwin wishes ‘well deserved’ India duo after selection

The Indian team management made some bold decisions as Cheteshwar Pujara was dropped from the Test team. The veteran batter’s struggle continued in the WTC Final, and after a lean patch which continues since 2020, which includes just a solitary century in 28 Tests, Pujara found himself axed.

And along with Pujara’s exclusion, the BCCI selectors have picked up Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal for the Test series.

Jaiswal, who had an excellent IPL season with Rajasthan Royals, has scored a plethora of runs in the domestic tournaments last season. In 15 first-class matches, Jaiswal has scored 1845 runs at an average of 80. He also scored a double hundred in the Irani Cup.

Ruturaj Gaikwad enjoyed a fantastic outing with Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2023, where he amassed 590 runs for the IPL 2023 champions.

And after their selection, India’s premier spinner Ravichandran Ashwin took to social media to congratulate them.

“So very happy for Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad. Well Deserved,” Ashwin wrote on Twitter tagging the duo’s Twitter accounts.

Ashwin himself has been picked up for the West Indies tour and will have to onus to spearhead India’s spin attack in the island countries. The off-spinner was bafflingly dropped from the starting XI in the WTC Final, but looks set to play both matches against West Indies.

Along with the aforementioned names, pacer Mukesh Kumar was also selected for both Test and ODI squads. The Bengal pacer has had an outstanding domestic season and has been previously named in India squads.

He will be hoping his wait for international debut finally ends as the player will fancy his selection in the first team in one of the matches.