IND vs BAN: Team India, who have had great results across all formats, though their outcomes were not the finest until winning the T20 World Cup earlier this year. The India team has a schedule for the longest format of the game, as, in the next 113 days, India is set to feature in 10 test matches.
India has been crowned No. 1 in tests for over a long period now, as this feat was achieved in the Shastri era, which was continued in the Rahul Dravid times. Under Virat Kohli, India entered the first-ever WTC final in 2021, as they lost against New Zealand in the finals.
Next was their two-year cycle, when once again India played some stunning cricket under skipper Rohit Sharma, as he led them to a World Test Championship for the second consecutive time in 2023, when they lost against the Australian side led by Pat Cummins.
This time around as well, Dravid splurged with immense test cricket success until Gambhir took over. India will play their first-ever test series under their new coach, Gautam Gambhir, who has given preference to his idealism and hence made changes to the squad.
India’s Test Schedule
Bangladesh Tour of India: 2024
- First test: 19th September to 23rd September
- Second test: 27th September to 1st October
New Zealand tour of India: 2024
- First test: 16th October to 20th October
- Second test: 24th October to 28th October
- Third test: 1st November to 5th November
India Tour of Australia—Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25
- First test: 22nd November to 26th November
- Second test: 6th December to 10th December
- Third test: 14th December to 18th December
- Fourth test: 26th December to 30th December
- Fifth test: 3rd January to 7th January
With the conclusion of India’s final test of the Australia tour, after the boxing day test, India will conclude their WTC cycle, with only awaiting the finals if the table toppers can make their way into Lord’s.
India’s Supposed Squad with some likely new faces
India has recently instructed their players to make a move, and the BCCI also issued a strict notice to the players of the national side for participation in domestic leagues in order to prepare themselves for the upcoming international saga.
Likely Yashasvi Jaiswal, the left-handed young batter from Mumbai, has been a part of the Indian team for this WTC cycle, and he has been the supreme batter despite the presence of the most veteran cricketers. Hence, undoubtedly Jaiswal will continue to feature alongside skipper Rohit Sharma in the longest format of the game for India.
These two openers are placed among the top 10 ranks of the ICC Test Rankings, and the veteran Virat Kohli is also placed 10th. Kohli will be placed in the team as well.
Now comes the players, over whose selection there remain some questions to be answered. Cheteshwar Pujara was replaced by a young Indian batter, Shubman Gill, at no. 3. However, Gill has been out of touch for a long time now, and players like Mumbai skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, youngsters Sarfaraz Khan, and also Tilak Verma have shown promising domestic seasons to replace him from the side.
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While India faced the biggest trouble in the middle order, as Gambhir has hinted at Pandya’s return in tests if he chooses to make a return. Rishabh Pant has made a comeback and will likely be the first-choice wicketkeeper in Team India’s Test squad.
While players like KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, and also the likes of young wk-batter Dhruv Jurel will also be trying to compete for the middle-order spots of Team India.
India seems to have settled down with the likes of Ravindra Jadeja at no. 7, as he has been the greatest among all-rounders in the format. At the same time, Axar Patel can once again feature as India’s finest all-format all-rounder, as his batting abilities are on par with his bowling geniuses.
Gambhir has indicated that he is not likely to further include the likes of Ravi Ashwin, despite the 38-year-old being India’s highest wicket-taker in test cricket. But Gambhir indicated even the greatest have to depart someday, and hence he sanctioned Kuldeep and Washington Sundar to prepare for the Duleep Trophy.
While India’s likely pace bench would feature players like Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, and also Md. Siraj. What remains is doubt over players like Shardul Thakur or Umesh Yadav, who are no more likely to be in the format, with some other fine picks that might replace them in the near future.
Gambhir’s Probable Test XI
Rohit Sharma
Yashasvi Jaiswal
Sarfaraz Khan
Virat Kohli
Rishabh Pant
Shreyas Iyer/Hardik Pandya
Ravindra Jadeja
Axar Patel
Kuldeep Yadav
Jasprit Bumrah
Mohammad Shami/Mohammad Siraj
