IND vs WI | 3 Concerns For India Ahead Of West Indies Tests

image-ljy9hk4rAjinkya Rahane during WTC Final (Twitter)

The much-awaited India's tour of West Indies is all set to begin with a two-match Test series. The red-ball series will be followed by the white-ball leg of the tour but to begin with, the two Test matches hold a great value as it is a start of a new WTC cycle after India failed to cross the final hurdle in the last WTC Final.

The first Test will start on 12th of July at Windsor Park in Roseau, Dominica and will be a fresh start for both the teams with plenty of new faces. As far as India is concerned, they have made some bold selection decisions and have left out Cheteshwar Pujara along with resting some senior bowlers. Windies, on the other hand, have done decently in Test cricket in recent past and let's now see what are the three concerns India have ahead of this all-important Test series against West Indies.

Absence of Cheteshwar Pujara - Lack of solidity in the top order

Cheteshwar Pujara has been dropped from the Test side after his below-par performance in the WTC final against the Aussies. The right-hander has been India's number 3 for more than a decade now and though his form in recent times has not been upto the mark, his presence provided the stability to the batting order.

On this Windies tour, India have to choose between either of Yashasvi Jaiswal or Ruturaj Gaikwad for the number 3 spot. Both are talented batters and rightly deserve a place in the side but both of them are naturally aggressive batters and it remains to be seen how they cope with the challenges of Test cricket on pitches that are not expected to be easy for batting.

Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill also like to play their shots but as seen in the WTC Final, they tend to throw their wickets away after promising starts and this lack of solidity and reliability is a concern for India.

Inexperienced pace attack

Along with some new batters, India are also going into this Test series with a young pace battery. The likes of Shami and Umesh Yadav who were part of the WTC squad, are not on this Windies tour and Siraj will lead the pace attack in their absence.

The five pacers - Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini and Mukesh Kumar have combined experience of just 32 Tests which talks a lot about their inexperience in Test cricket. Siraj and Shardul Thakur have played 28 Tests and it would be interesting to see how Indian pacers go about their business in Dominica where the pacers are expected to play a big role.

The Wicketkeeper Conundrum - KS Bharat Or Ishan Kishan

The absence of Rishabh Pant is really hurting India in Test cricket. KS Bharat has been given chances in his absence but the Andhra lad has failed to grab his opportunities so far. Ishan Kishan, a possible replacement of KS Bharat also does not have a great first-class record and is yet to make his Test debut.

This lack of reliable option has affected the depth of batting line-up and India paid a huge price for it in the WTC final. India would desperately hope that either of the two scores big runs in this Test series and provide stability to the fragile batting line-up that has the knack of crumbling under pressure.