New Delhi, July 12 (Hindustan Times). Yashasvi Jaiswal will make his Test debut for India in the first match against the West Indies in Dominica. Indian captain Rohit Sharma gave the above information. The 21-year-old Jaiswal has had a stellar season in the domestic circuit across all formats including a stellar season in the Indian Premier League.
The left-handed batsman, who was the player of the tournament in the 2020 Under-19 Cricket World Cup, was a member of the stand-by squad for India’s World Test Championship 2023 final against Australia last month. Jaiswal has played only 15 first-class matches but averages over 80 in them, with nine hundreds and a highest score of 265.
Rohit said in the pre-match press conference that Shubman Gill will slot in at No.3 to fill the spot vacated by Cheteshwar Pujara. Pujara has not been included in the team on the West Indies tour.
Rohit said on the eve of the first Test, “Gill will play at number 3 because Gill himself wants to play at number 3.” He discussed with Rahul (Dravid) that I have played all my cricket at No.3 and 4. I think if I bat at number 3 then I can do better for my team and it is good for us also because it becomes the opening combination of left and right.
Rohit said, “So I think we will try to do that and hopefully it will go on for a long time. Because we have been looking for a left-handed batsman for many years. So now that we have got that left-hander, let’s hope he does well for the team.
The 36-year-old Sharma also confirmed that India is ready to play two spinners in the first Test. Though he didn’t confirm who the spinners are, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin are set to take up two spots in the team along with another spinner Axar Patel. Ishan Kishan is likely to make his Test debut as he has been with this team for several series now. There are plenty of challenges ahead for both the sides and they will be eager to prove themselves in the early stages of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle.
