Related Link : India’s Tour of West Indies 2011
India has another casualty in Sachin Tendulkar following the hectic World Cup and the IPL tournaments with the Master Blaster deciding to skip the West Indies tour. Tendulkar has cited that he wanted some time off to be with his family. Gautam Gambhir due to shoulder injury and Yuvraj Singh with a respiratory infection also miss out from the Test Series. India’s batting now rests on the shoulders of the experienced Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman backed up by Skipper MS Dhoni. A lot earlier, Virender Sehwag too had pulled out of the tour due to a shoulder injury.
The Indian team though depleted still has the advantage as it faces a West Indies team that possibly is the weakest in the last decade or so due to the issues between the players and the WICB. Tamil Nadu’s left handed opener Abhinav Mukund gets his maiden call in international cricket. The 21-year-old is most likely to make his Test Debut with the regular openers Gambhir and Sehwag missing. Mukund will be opening with his fellow statemate Murali Vijay. India also has an additional opening option in Parthiv Patel who has adequate experience at the international level.
The slots opened up due to Tendulkar and Yuvraj’s absence have been filled up by the promising duo of Virat Kohli and Subramaniam Badrinath. The bowling attack has the four experienced pacers in Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth and Munaf Patel while three specialist spinners – Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha have been picked in the 16-man squad led by MS Dhoni. VVS Laxman who hasn’t got the opportunity to lead India so far in his long career has been named as the Vice-Captain.
India Squad for the 3-Test Series :
- MS Dhoni (Captain & Wicket Keeper)
- Murali Vijay
- Abhinav Mukund
- Rahul Dravid
- VVS Laxman
- Virat Kohli
- S Badrinath
- Suresh Raina
- Parthiv Patel (Wicket Keeper)
- Harbhajan Singh
- Amit Mishra
- Ishant Sharma
- Zaheer Khan
- Sreesanth
- Pragyan Ojha
- Munaf Patel