5 players from domestic cricket who should get a chance in India’s Test side vs West Indies

West Indies is set to host Team India for a two match test series which is scheduled to begin on July 12. While India is the only team to have qualified for the World Test Champonship (WTC) final both times, Rohit Sharma led team once again ended WTC)cycle on the losing side. Despite this, Indian team has generally been consistent in the test format over the last few years and are still at the no.1 position in the ICC Test rankings.

Team India suffered a 209 run defeat in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia and there has been a lot of talk about transition and its changes to the Test side against West Indies next month could begin it. India definitely needs some experience so that the youngsters coming into the side will be groomed for the future. But there are some positions that are up for grabs and there are players with impressive performances in domestic cricket that probably need to be given a chance.

Lets look at a few players who can be given a chance during Indias tour of West Indies.

1. Ruturaj Gaikwad
Gaikwad has been performing consistently over the las few years whether it is the IPL or domestic cricket. Ruturaj has already played ODI and T20 format for India but is yet to debut in tests. He is a technically sound batsman and it remains to be seen when he gets a place in the test side. Gaikwad has scored 1941 runs with nine hundreds in 28 first class matches. While Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill are the number one preference, Gaikwad may get a place as the backup opener.

2. Yashasvi Jaiswal
Jaiswal has already achieved in domestic cricketer what very few cricketers have been able to do. Jaiswal averages a stunning 80.21 with 1845 runs in just 15 first class games. He is likely to get a chance during West indies after such exceptional performance. To have nine hundreds in just 15 games speaks a lot about the ability of Jaiswal to bat for long hours, a trait that the Indian batting desperately needs.

3. Sarfaraz Khan
He is a big name doing rounds for lst few months and is prolific performer in domestic cricket. Mumbai’s Sarfaraz Khan is certain to find a spot in Team India’s middle order. He did not get the chance during the Bangladesh Tests as well as the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at home earlier this year. Many fans expressed their anger on social media as they felt Sarfaraz deserved a chance, especially with injuries to Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant. But his wait is likely to get over soon.

4. Mukesh Kumar
Kumar has been among the most consistent performers for Bengal in first-class cricket. The fast bowler has performed well In the last two Ranji Trophy seasons and was selected in the Indian test team during the WTC Final, although he could not make it to the playing XI. Mukesh was impressive in the Irani Cup earlier this year as well. Playing for the Rest of India squad, Mukesh picked up 4 wickets to lead his side to a 238-run victory. Due to his consistent performances, he was bought by Delhi Capitals for Rs 5.5 crore during the IPL 2023 auction and played ten matches in this season of IPL.

5. Kumar Kartikeya
Kartikeya has become quite popular after being included in Mumbai Indians team for the IPL. In the limited opportunities he got during IPL, he impressed everyone. The spinner from Madhya Pradesh also has an superb first-class record, with 99 wickets in 23 games, that includes 7 five-wicket hauls. Despite India already having three world-class finger spinners, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel, the former two are in their mid-30s. Kartkeya is comparatively quite young and needs to be groomed. During the Duleep Trophy semi-final, Central Zone’s Kartikeya picked up eight wickets against West Zone.