Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has named his starting XI for the first Test between the West Indies and India, which begins on July 12. Harbhajan anticipates Mukesh Kumar and Yashasvi Jaiswal to make their Test debuts for India in the first Test.
Notably, India will play two tests on the West Indies trip, the first on July 12 in Dominica and the second on July 20-24 at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad.
With Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma in his XI, Harbhajan Singh has kept India’s opening position unaltered.
Former ace off-spinner is also hoping to see Jaydev Unadkat in the bowling lineup.
Unadkat played for India in the December 2022 Test series against Bangladesh, while Mukesh was rewarded with an India call-up for his brilliant and consistent performance for Bengal in the domestic circuit.
He chose Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja as his spinners.
“Shubman has got that position based on his performance. So his position should not be touched. I will play Yashasvi at No. 3. I hope he makes his debut and scores a lot of runs. He is a top player. Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane will play at No. 4 and No. 5,”
Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel.
“I will play Unadkat. Because he is performing in domestic cricket for a long time but hasn’t got the opportunity. So I hope he gets the chance to play there. At No. 11, I will have Mukesh Kumar. He has done extremely well in the Ranji Trophy,”
he further added.
Interestingly, Harbhajan has dropped Shardul Thakur, who was a member of India’s final XI for the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) and was a standout performer at the event last month. Although Axar Patel is included in the squad, the veteran spinner has opted to form the spin assault with Ashwin and Jadeja.
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