ICC World Test Championship Final: 3 Players Who Should Have Been In The Indian Squad

The Indian squad for the ICC World Test Championship final against New Zealand was announced yesterday by the BCCI and the selectors have covered most of the bases. The likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Hanuma Vihari, and Mohammed Shami have all returned to the test squad and the rest of the squad pick themselves.

Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, and Mohammed Siraj have been retained for their impressive performances in the tests against England while Kuldeep Yadav has been dropped from the squad. There are four openers in the squad, the middle order of Pujara, Kohli, and Rahane while the first-choice wicket-keeper will be Rishabh Pant. Here are 3 players who should have been in the Indian squad.

3 Players Who Should Have Been In The Indian Squad:

Prithvi Shaw:

Prithvi Shaw started his test career with a bang scoring a century on debut, but injuries did not help his progress and he was given a chance in the Australia series. But his poor form and technique were exposed and he was eventually dropped from the Indian test team for the England series. He then went on to play the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Mumbai and finished as the top run-getter of the tournament.

He scored 827 runs with four centuries in eight innings at an average of 165 and broke the record for the highest individual score in Vijay Hazare tournament history with a 227 not out. He continued his good form in the IPL and proved to have got his touchback. He was very destructive and scored 308 runs in eight innings at a terrific strike rate. He would have surely been among the eyes of the selectors and he must be unlucky to miss out despite his great form.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar:

The Indian speedster Bhuvneshwar Kumar returned to international action recently in the limited series against England and delivered at the crunch times for the nation. After being hit by a lot of injuries, this was the time for him to excel and he did look to have got his rhythm going.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is one of the best swing bowlers in India and England is a place that offers a lot of seaming conditions for him to exploit. He has good numbers in England in tests and he was expected to be on the flight to England on his recent form. He hasn’t played test cricket for the last three years but he did deserve to be on the squad being one of the leading bowlers in Indian cricket.

Jaydev Unadkat:

The left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat has been out of international action for the last three years, but certainly, he has been on the radars of the selectors showing consistent performances in domestic cricket. Unadkat led his side Saurashtra to win in the Ranji Trophy final 2020 and he had to take a lot of credit for the team’s performances.

Unadkat picked up 67 wickets in the 10 first-class games at an average of 13.23. He picked up seven five-wicket hauls and proved to a match-winner for his side. He bowls a very good line in the longer format and provides a tough challenge for the batsman. He recently bowled well in the IPL too and has been assigned a different role rather than the death overs. With no left-arm seamers on the Indian side, Unadkat should have made it to the flight to England.