Padikkal returns as India name Gill-led Test squad for West Indies series; Jadeja named vice captain

Dubai, Sep 25 (IANS) The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday announced Shubman Gill-led 15-member squad for the two home Tests against the West Indies, starting from October 2, with Devdutt Padikkal making a return and senior all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja named vice captain.

Padikkal's last appearance in Tests came in the first game of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in November 2024, where he registered scores of 0 and 25 in two innings. Earlier this month, the left-hander scored a century in the first unofficial Test against Australia A in Lucknow.

Shubman Gill, who took over the red-ball captaincy from Rohit Sharma after the latter retired from the format, will lead the side, with Ravindra Jadeja as his deputy.

Dhruv Jurel, who replaced injured Rishabh Pant in the playing XI for the final Test against England in August, has been named the wicketkeeper for the Windies series and N Jagadeesan included as the backup keeper. Pant was the vice-captain during the recent five-match England series; the 27-year-old sustained a serious injury to his foot in the fourth Test and was subsequently ruled out of the fifth and final game.

Karun Nair, who had a middling time on the tour of England, which marked his comeback to Tests after eight years, has been dropped from the setup. Meanwhile, pacer Prasidh Krishna, who suffered a blow to his head while fielding in the second unofficial Test against Australia A on Wednesday, has also been included in the squad.

Shreyas Iyer has not been considered for selection after he requested the BCCI to grant him a six-month break from the red-ball format. He recently led the India A side against Australia A in the first of the two four-day unofficial Tests before handing over the captaincy duties to Jurel for the second game.

The series opener will be played in Ahmedabad, after which the action will move to Delhi from October 10. This will be India’s first Test series after the 2-2 draw in England for the first-ever Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.

India are currently placed third, after Australia and Sri Lanka, despite playing more games than the two teams at No. 1 and 2.

India Squad: Shubman Gill (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravindra Jadeja (VC), Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, N Jagadeesan, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav

-- IANS

vi/bc