India’s veteran fast bowler Umesh Yadav is dealing with a hamstring injury and he is not dropped from the West Indies Tests, Times of India has reported. Yadav recently played in the World Test Championship final against Australia but could not deliver the goods as India lost by 209 runs at the Oval.
The right-arm pacer went wicketless in the first innings (0-77) and took two wickets (2-54) in the second dig against the Aussies. In fact, Yadav didn’t look fully fit in the WTC Final and bowled well below 140 kmph. As Yadav was not picked for the two-match Test series against Australia, it was thought that he has been dropped.
“Umesh is suffering from a hamstring injury and is recovering at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore,” said the source as quoted by TOI.
On the other hand, the source also confirmed the selection doors have not closed for Cheteshwar Pujara and Umesh Yadav. Pujara recently returned with scores of 14 and 27 in the World Test Championship final against Australia and thus could not deliver the goods in a big game.
In the last two years, Pujara scored 928 runs in 17 Test matches at an average of 32. In fact, Ajinkya Rahane, who returned with scores of 89 and 46 in the WTC final, was named as the Test vice-captain for the WI tour.
“If Ajinkya Rahane can be made the vice-captain of the Test side after being out for 15 months before the WTC final, anyone can make a comeback. The doors aren’t closed on any senior player,” said the source.
“It’s just that you need to start transitioning somwehere. The selectors don’t want a situation where all the seniors quit the scene in one go and we don’t have anyone experienced left in the dressing room,” the source added.
The first Test match between India and West Indies will be played at Windsor Park in Roseau from July 12 onwards.
Indian Test squad: Rohit Sharma (Capt), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (VC), KS Bharat (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini.
