Speedster Mohammed Shami will be under strict observation of India’s new coach Anil Kumble regarding his fragile fitness along with the inconsistent form of opener Shikhar Dhawan when they begin the West Indies tour with a two-day warm-up game against WICB President’s XI in St. Kitts on Saturday.
The two-day match is an official one where both teams will have the chance to bat a day each with all players being allowed to play.
For Kumble, it will be a new beginning with his boys ready to hit the road in what expected to be an eventful 49-day tour across the Caribbean islands where longer version of the game is no longer a priority due to the emergence of CPL.
Yet a squad with six current Test players including skipper Leon Johnson, Jermaine Blackwood, Rajendra Chandrika, Shane Dowrich, Shai Hope and Jomel Warrican means Indians will get ample match practice.
The first warm-up match will also highlight on how India’s key pacer Mohammed Shami’s body holds to the rigours of longer version — when he returns for his second and third spells.
Skipper Virat Kohli had in fact heaped praise on Shami terming him as someone “who bowls the ideal Test match length”.
Ishant Sharma, who has also undergone a long lay-off, will be keen to get into the groove along with Umesh Yadav as the tree will remain key to Kohli’s gameplans.
For the coach, it will be a great opportunity to test his reserve pacers in Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shardul Thakur.
It is believed that the top-order batsmen will advised to at least face around 75-80 balls.
When India tours abroad for Test series, the general agenda is for specialist batsmen to play 75-80 balls (in case they don’t get out) and then retire to allow others to get some time out there in the middle.
Shikhar Dhawan, whose form in Test cricket has been quite patchy, will be eager to get a few runs under his belt as he will most likely face the new ball alongside Murali Vijay, who is a certainty. The same goes for skipper Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane, who need to get some batting time in the middle.
KL Rahul would like to challenge Dhawan with a couple of good knocks in the practice games to make it to the playing eleven.
Similarly, Rohit Sharma would aim to give Cheteshwar Pujara a tough fight for the only middle-order slot.
Stuart Binny comes into the equation depending on what Kumble and Kohli think about him as the fifth bowler or third seamer.
With the pitches in West Indies getting slower by the day, all the three spinners will take turns to roll their arm over.
Apart from fitness issues, Ravichandran Ashwin will be the main spinner and in terms of pure skills Amit Mishra is most certainly ahead of Ravindra Jadeja with his knack of getting sufficient turn on his leg-breaks and occasionally bowl the odd googly.
Squads:
India: Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Lokesh Rahul, Wriddhiman Saha (wickekeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Stuart Binny.
WICB President’s XI: Leon Johnson (Captain), Jermaine Blackwood, Rajendra Chandrika, Roston Chase, Jason Dawes, Shane Dowrich, Shai Hope, Damion Jacobs, Keon Joseph, Marquino Mindley, Vishaul Singh, Jomel Warrican.