Rishabh Pant will not play in the home Tests against West Indies

Rishabh Pant will not play in the home Tests against West Indies

Rishabh Pant is gonna miss the two-match home test series against West Indies due to his injury. The series is gonna start from October 2 in Ahmedabad.

On September 24, India’s selection meeting is going to be held, which might be led by Ajit Agarkar, where he will pick 15 players. This is two fewer than the team for the New Zealand Tests last October, which was the last home series India played.

India’s vice-captain Rishabh Pant, who played in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in England earlier this year, is recovering from a fractured left foot. He got injured during the fourth Test in Manchester but still came out to bat in the first innings. For the final Test at the Oval, he was replaced by N Jagadeesan. Pant is currently at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, focusing on strength and conditioning. His return date is still uncertain.

With Pant unavailable, Dhruv Jurel is expected to be India’s main wicketkeeper for the upcoming Test series against the West Indies. Jurel is currently playing in Lucknow against Australia A and has kept wickets in the last two Tests in England. Jagadeesan, who also played against Australia A and shared keeping duties with Jurel, might be picked as a backup if the selectors want a second specialist wicketkeeper.

The selectors are also looking at Nitish Kumar Reddy and Devdutt Padikkal for the West Indies series. Padikkal recently scored 150 for India A and has played two Tests, including one in Perth last year. Reddy, who has played seven Tests, missed the first four-day game against Australia A due to a knee injury but is part of the squad for the second match starting Tuesday.

The India-West Indies Test series is part of the World Test Championship. India currently sits third on the WTC table after a 2-2 draw in the England series, while West Indies are sixth with three losses in three games.