A brew of young, exciting, players are knocking on the doors of the Indian team and it won't be long before some of the non-performing seniors eventually make way for them.
With Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer and K L Rahul facing considerable time on the sidelines because of injuries, there are several places up for grabs in the Test team.
The two Test series in the West Indies could be a good opportunity for the selectors to audition the best performing youngsters from the IPL and domestic cricket -- Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar (IPL); Sarfaraz Khan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Avesh Khan, Umran Malik (domestic cricket).
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja could do with a break, which will allow India to try out new players in the Caribbean.
Rohit, Kohli and Pujara's batting haven't anyway been up to the mark in the WTC 2021-2023 cycle, with just a single century in the last two years. Not a single Indian batter has scored 1,000 runs or above in the previous WTC cycle.
Even if India qualify for a third WTC final, will Rohit, Kohli and Pujara be in the Indian team in 2025?
The decline in India's batting in the last couple of years is evident in the table below. Not a single batter features in the top 10 run getters in the WTC cycle 2021-2023, which has been dominated by Australian and England batters.
India's World Test Championship cycle, 2023-2025, gets underway with the two Test series in the West Indies, but the BCCI doesn't have a chairman of selectors yet. No one has been appointed after Chetan Sharma was sacked as chief selector for indiscreet comments made during a television sting interview.
If the selectors are brave to go in for wholesale changes for the West Indies tour, then it will be interesting to see who takes over as captain.
Will it be Ajinkya Rahane who inspired an injury-hit India to their famous 2-1 Test series in Australia in 2021-2022?
Or will it be World No 1 Test bowler Ravichandran Ashwin, who was shockingly dropped for the WTC final against Australia last week?
But Ashwin is known to be outspoken about his views, which won't go down well with the BCCI bosses and Head Coach Rahul Dravid who may prefer the mild mannered Ajinkya Rahane. Photograph: BCCI
Among the batters, this is the right time to bring in Mumbai's batting sensation Jaiswal. He might have hit headlines for some of his incredible knocks during IPL 2023, but his performances in domestic cricket aren't too far behind.
The left-hander boasts an impressive average of 80 in first class cricket, with 1,845 runs in 15 matches, including nine centuries and two fifties.
Jaiswal, who hit a double century (227) on his Duleep Trophy debut for West Zone against North East Zone, also slammed a century on his India A debut against Bangladesh A in November last year.
Playing for Rest of India, Jaiswal blazed his way to a double century (213) and a century (144) in his Irani Cup debut match against Madhya Pradesh in March, taking his tally in first class cricket past the 1,000-run mark for the season.
The 21 year old is enjoying the form of his life and there could be no better than to pick him for the West Indies to partner Shubman Gill at the top of the order.
T20 specialist Suryakumar Yadav could be handed a Test lifeline if he is picked, but faces strong competition from Mumbai team-mate Sarfaraz, who was unstoppable with the bat in the last Ranji Trophy season, for the No 4 slot.
Rahane, after his fine comeback in the WTC final, is likely to keep his place in the team. Hanuma Vihari is also another candidate for a middle order slot. He came up with a few gutsy performances in Australia in 2020-2021 but wasn't given enough opportunites after that.
K S Bharat appears unlikely to retain his place as first choice wicket-keeper after his below-par showing with the bat. The selectors field left-hander Ishan Kishan, who averages 38 in first class cricket with 2,985 runs in 48 Tests in Bharat's place.
Given his talent and experience, Sanju Samson definitely deserves a long rope in Test cricket. His first class tally of 3,346 runs in 58 matches, averaging 38, with 10 centuries and 15 fifties, is not an eye-catcher ,but everyone who has seen him bat believe he is destined for bigger things.
However, given his exclusion from the South Zone team for the Duleep Trophy, he doesn't seem to be in contention for the Test team.
Among the bowlers, Ashwin is expected to take over as the lead spinner with Jadeja likely to get a break after a hectic IPL and the WTC final.
Axar Patel could come in as the second spinner while the selectors could pick among Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi or Kuldeep Yadav as the wrist spinner.
Spin all-rounder Washington Sundar has recovered from the injury sustained during the IPL and a lot will depend how he fares in his comeback tournament, the Duleep Trophy.
India's most consistent bowler in the last couple of years needs a break after playing throughout the IPL and in the WTC final, so Mohammad Shami will make way for Mohammad Siraj as the lead pace bowler.
The selectors would do well to groom Avesh Khan, Umran Malik and Mukesh Kumar in the West Indies and they could blossom with guidance from Siraj, the most improved Indian bowler in the last couple of years.
My Team for the West Indies Tests: Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav, Sarfaraz Khan, Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Siraj, Avesh Khan, Umran Malik, Mukesh Kumar, Arshdeep Singh.
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