Indian Players Who Could Be Dropped From West Indies Test Series Due To Poor Form

India players who could be dropped from WI Tests [Source: AFP Photo]

Team India’s current focus is on the Asia Cup tournament, but once it gets over, the caravan shifts towards the upcoming West Indies tour of India, set to begin on October 2. The squad for the same could be announced in a couple of days, and expect a plethora of changes in the team.

Some players are injured, some have been out of touch, and in this article, we focus on three such stars, who might not be picked for the West Indies Tests (due to form or tactical reasons).

Indian Players who might not be picked for West Indies Tests

1) Shreyas Iyer

Some say that if Shreyas Iyer is not picked in the Test team, it would be an injustice to the Mumbai batter, but people want Iyer in the squad solely on the basis of his white-ball calibre. While the right-handed batter has excelled in white-ball, his red-ball numbers are still not up to the mark, and he could once again be snubbed for the tour.

In the Duleep Trophy tournament, Iyer had a flop season as the middle-order batter failed to deliver the goods for the West Zone team. He had a chance to stamp his authority in the whites in the Duleep Trophy semis, but the player scored only 25, and 12 respectively as the selectors had a close watch on him. 

Again, in the unofficial first Test vs Australia A, Iyer failed yet again as he only managed to score 8 runs against a tough opponent and allowed his Test chances to slip by.

2) Karun Nair

Cricket gave Karun Nair “one more chance” to showcase his skills, but the batter flopped in the Test series against England on flat wickets. The team management gave him ample chances but he couldn’t grab it.

(Karun Nair vs England)

• While his teammates scored truckloads of runs in England, Nair failed to deliver despite getting eight innings to prove his Test worth. In Indian conditions, the team has a plethora of options, and Nair is unlikely to be one of them, and could be dropped for the West Indies Tests.
• With Sarfaraz Khan returning and even Sai Sudharsan getting a longer rope, there is no room for India to slot in Nair in the middle-order.

3) Nitish Kumar Reddy

While Nitish Kumar Reddy hasn’t done anything entirely wrong, but Team India is unlikely to go in with a pace-bowling all-rounder in Indian conditions against the Windies. 

(Nitish Kumar Reddy vs England)

• In the England Tests, he got injured midway through the tour, but before that, the all-rounder had average numbers with the bat. In 2 Tests, he only scored 45 runs, at an average of 11. Plus, he wasn’t that impressive with the ball, picking up 3 wickets, at an average of 37.63.
• In Indian conditions, the side already has Axar Patel, and Ravindra Jadeja as the two all-rounders, and even Washington Sundar can chip in; hence, having a pace-bowling all-rounder with average numbers doesn’t make sense.

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