Ahead of their first Test tour of the Caribbean since 2019, India have named a squad with a few notable changes from the one that was featured in the World Test Championship final. 

India Test squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane (vc), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kona Srikar Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini

With a few prolonged injury absences in the form of Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul, the team bears a different look from the one that featured for the majority of the 2021-23 WTC cycle. Here are the major talking points from the announcement that kickstarts the new cycle for the world’s No.1 side.

Cheteshwar Pujara, sayonara?

Once indispensable to the India Test side, Cheteshwar Pujara is the biggest absentee from the squad. The absence will be huge: after Rahul Dravid, no one has batted more often at No.3 for India, or scored more runs there, than Pujara. And yet, it doesn’t exactly feel like a shock. Since the start of 2020, Pujara averages 29.69 with one century in 52 innings. The writing was on the wall.

There’s no denying his past genius, but Pujara is 35, doesn’t have the healthiest knees, and has been running low on runs for a long time. The new World Test Championship final gives India the chance for a hard cut, and slowly start the batting transition. Is it the end? Most likely. But never say never (ask Rahane).

Jaiswal versus Ruturaj: who is the next No.3?

Yashasvi Jaiswal, anointed the next prince of Indian cricket by many, finally gets senior honours. While he has opened for the majority of his domestic career, the immediate spot for him could be one down. Fighting for a spot with him will be another opener, Ruturaj Gaikwad. As an alternative, there is also the option of Shubman Gill dropping to three.

It won’t be easy: since 2000, only three Indian players have batted at No.3 for 10 or more innings. To make a name at that number would require matching the deeds of some of India’s greatest batters.

Rahane returns as deputy

Here’s another 35-year-old, running on the opposite tramline to Pujara. Until 2022, Rahane was India’s vice-captain, but runs weren’t by his side, leading to his ouster. Then came a successful Ranji season (average of 57.63) along with a double century in the Duleep Trophy. In the IPL, he was a different batter altogether: by the time the WTC final came, he was back in the Test squad.

To continue his renaissance, he was named vice-captain for the West Indies tour – while it doesn’t guarantee anything if the runs don’t come (KL Rahul knows), it means he has been trusted for the new cycle, over several other younger middle-order options.

Is there an IPL bias?

Not everyone was happy with Rahane’s return last month. The comeback, if not governed by his IPL form, was certainly helped by it. At the same time, there are younger options who have been slugging it out in domestic cricket (not IPL, the red-ball kind), with better numbers, but haven’t made the senior leap.

The first name that comes to mind is that of Sarfaraz Khan. Statistically, he has done everything and more to deserve a call-up, but one lacklustre IPL season later, the numbers seem to have been forgotten. Abhimanyu Easwaran is another such name: he doesn’t play the IPL but has been prolific in domestic cricket. His 22 first-class tons and an average of 48 haven’t materialised into an India cap.

Is the pace attack strong enough?

Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, two of the four quicks in the final, won’t be travelling to the Caribbean. In their place, come Navdeep Saini and Mukesh Kumar – one hasn’t played Tests since January 2021, and the other is yet to make his senior debut. Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur and Jaydev Undkat make up the rest of the pace attack. Thakur himself hadn’t played a Test in a year until the WTC final and Unadkat’s last Test, in 2022, was only his second in 12 years. It does make for a relatively light pace attack on pitches where seamers have done most of the work. However, India may be banking on their spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel to run through lineups with ease.