A preview of the Indian Team's upcoming season

Post the IPL 2016, the Indian senior cricket team sans skipper MS Dhoni got a long and well-deserved layoff of over 2 months while the skipper was made to lead a second-string side composed of an inexperienced bunch of talented cricketers against Zimbabwe. The tour to Zimbabwe started earlier this month and the comprehensive whitewash by India in the ODI series was followed by a somewhat competitive T20I series which India won 2-1.

While the series triumphs were no less than emphatic, their importance or rather significance is questionable considering the dire state of Zimbabwe cricket right now. The senior and more regular bunch of Indian cricketers resume their national duties mid-July onwards as they get ready to tour The West Indies in what promises to be a cracker of a contest between two evenly matched teams and yet, the Indians would have their eyes on redemption for the defeat inflicted by the West Indies in the World T20 semifinal earlier this year.

West Indies:

The tour to West Indies promises to be a grueling one beginning with a 2-day practice match at St. Kitts followed by a 3-day warm-up match from 14 July at the same venue. The first official Test match between the two sides will kick off from 21 July at the Vivian Richards stadium at Antigua and Barbuda while the second from 30 July at the Sabina Park in Jamaica. The newly named Darren Sammy Cricket Stadium at St Lucia will host the third Test from 9 August while the final match will be played at the Queen’s Park Oval from 18 August in Trinidad and Tobago.

The tour will be another test for a new look Indian Test team achieving new heights since the obvious and highly anticipated captaincy successor Virat Kohli took over the reins from MS Dhoni. Adding to the strength of this highly spirited Indian lineup will be fast bowler Mohammad Shami who has been out of international cricket since May last year due to injuries.

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A deserving call up happens in the form of Mumbai quick Shardul Thakur riding high on the success of his last Ranji Trophy campaign. Thankfully for him, the BCCI took notice and he was named in the 17 member squad for the tour to West Indies. The Indian team will arrive in West Indies with a new and celebrated coach in the form of Anil Kumble and a slew of other changes in the team administration. The tour though may have to face a dwindling audience this time around as it is all set to clash with the CPL 2016. The Caribbean people have increasingly prioritized the T20 format and this tour may be an example for that.

Indian Squad – Virat Kohli (C), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vc), Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Amit Mishra, RavindraJadeja, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Stuart Binny.

New Zealand

Post the tour of West Indies, India will be facing New Zealand at home for 3 Tests and 5 ODIs. It is tentative but in between these two large scale and highly anticipated contests, India may play host to neighbors and up and coming cricketing powerhouse, Bangladesh for a one-off Test, perhaps even more but the details can’t be confirmed as yet. What’s making news though is New Zealand’s tour of India in the months of August and September even though the possibility of a day-night Test match and the pink ball being hired has been ruled out by the BCCI.

England:

After playing New Zealand at home, India will play hosts to the English somewhere around the months of November and December. An interesting thing would be the opportunities given to youngsters and newcomers in the Indian team. The tour to Zimbabwe may not have been a very competitive tournament and yet, the fact that 9 players made their debuts in one or the other format during the tour can play testimony to the fact that a fair share of newcomers rightfully deserve to be called up for one of the home series and not just to warm the bench but being given a chance.

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Among these newcomers, KL Rahul will surely fancy his chances having made an impressive debut in the limited overs format in Zimbabwe. Kedar Jadhav is a case one has to take notice of. Jadhav made a century during his limited overs debut in Zimbabwe back in 2015 against the hosts. Following that, Jadhav had to wait for another year to again get a chance to don the Indian colors. He was selected to play in the 3rd T20I against Zimbabwe in the June 2016 and scored an impressive 58 guiding his team to a defendable total.

Jadhav’s case speaks of the lack of chances given to players like him who find it hard to be taken off the benches and taken seriously by the Board. The BCCI still can’t be blamed considering that it has to send its 11 best cricketers onto the field and luckily enough, there is no dearth of good cricketers in India.

Even while there are numerous cricketers who stand a chance to be picked for the Indian team soon, there are some who despite performing well in a consistent fashion find it hard to get the BCCI to take notice of their case. Robin Uthappa’s name comes to mind! Uthappa has been treating the IPL and the larger Indian domestic scene like a run feast over the last few years since he found back his technical touch somewhere around 2012 and yet, the fact that he was dropped for the tour to Zimbabwe seems like a strange decision made by the BCCI.

The constant upsurge of domestic talent in India shouting out with their performances for a national call-up make us hopeful to see fresh talent in one of the upcoming home season.