The skipper said the team’s management isn’t clear on the possible tweaks in the playing XI ahead of the Trinidad Test against the West Indies. With a bad weather forecast and rains predicted throughout the second Test of the West Indies series, Rohit Sharma emphasized the need to keep all scenarios and the pitch in mind before finalizing a side for the important World Test Championship fixture.
India are eyeing 100% of the points up for grabs from the Test match and the series to ease their expected bumpy side for this cycle, featuring tours to South Africa and Australia at a time when they are approaching a transition phase.
Given that the track in Dominica turned, the one at the Queen’s Park Oval is expected to offer more pace and bounce for the West Indies attack to hope to put India under some pressure. With R Ashwin dominating and cementing his spot and Ravindra Jadeja being the premier allrounder batting No.6, the Men in Blue are unlikely to play a four-pronged pace battery.
The equation will come down to the make-up of the seam trio and whether India should retain Jaydev Unadkat and Shardul Thakur to bowl alongside attack leader Mohammed Siraj or consider bringing debutant Mukesh Kumar or comeback man Navdeep Saini at the other end.
Rohit said either way one shall not expect “drastic changes” to the winning side.
“In Dominica, we had a clear idea when we saw the pitch and knew the conditions. Here we don’t have clarity as there is talk of rain,”
he told the press on Tuesday.
“But I don’t think there will be drastic changes. But whatever conditions are available, based on that, we will make that decision.”
Apart from boasting WTC context, the Trinidad Test is also a special occasion in the history of India-West Indies Test cricket, as it marks the 100th international red-ball encounter between the two great forces.
West Indies may have fallen off a cliff with their standards and haven’t beaten India in a Test since 2002, but they still retain an upper hand in the scoreline, which reads 30-23, with 46 draws.
