Karnataka opener Mayank Agarwal, who scored a fluent 90 against the West Indies in the two-day warm up game here on Saturday, has been picked for the two-Test series against the West Indies to be played at Rajkot from October 4 to 8 and Hyderabad from Oct. 12 to 16.
K.L. Rahul will be the first-choice opener and is likely to go out to bat with Prithvi Shaw, who was in the India squad for the last two Test matches against England. The 18-year-old Shaw came into the team at the expense of an out of form M. Vijay.
Mayank’s inclusion was a formality once the selectors and probably the team management decided that Shikhar Dhawan would have to go after a dismal series against England.
Dhawan has a home record of 710 runs at 44.37 in 11 Test matches.
Prolific run-getter
His replacement, the 27-year-old Mayank has been a prolific run-getter in the BCCI’s senior tournaments and also in the opportunities he got in the ‘A’ fixtures.
Following the decision to drop Dhawan, the Indian team’s opening pair will be right-handers and the first left-hander in the top six would be Rishabh Pant, who scored 114 in the second innings of The Oval Test.
With the selectors and the team management taking note of the workload of the fast bowlers, Hyderabad seamer Mohammad Siraj (97 wickets at 18.92 in 20 First Class matches) has been given the big break.
A BCCI press release mentioned: “Taking stock of the recent workload, the selectors have decided to rest Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. “Both Ishant Sharma and Hardik Pandya were not considered for selection as they are yet to recover from injuries.”
There were doubts about the fitness of captain Virat Kohli, but medical investigation on Saturday morning cleared him to be picked for both the Tests.
R. Ashwin’s selection means that he has completely recovered from a hip-related ailment.
Mayank thrilled
Ashwin Achal adds from Bengaluru:
Mayank Agarwal has been receiving emotional calls from his family and friends, ever since news of his India call-up was announced.
“The first calls I made were to my family and my coach 'RX' Murali sir. They were quite emotional, as this is a huge occasion for all of us,” Mayank told The Hindu on Saturday.
The opener is now ready to showcase his skills on the highest stage. “I want to go out there and do what works best for me. Yes, international cricket is new to me, so I’m unsure about what to expect. But I have to believe in myself and take it one day at a time,” the 27-year-old Bengalurean said.
The team:
Virat Kohli (Capt.), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-capt.), K.L. Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, G. Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur.
