"Because of WTC, every Test match becomes very important. We had a terrible series against New Zealand, and it was a, maybe it was a wake-up call, it was a lesson," Agarkar said. "We don't want that repeated again. We've generally been, over the last long time, very strong at home. That was after a while that we've had a few bad results, and we want to try and put it right," he said.
IND vs WI 2025: Ajit Agarkar explains reason behind dropping Karun Nair from India's Test squad
“Frankly we expected a little bit more. He’s played four Tests, but we’ve spoken about just one innings. It is the way it is. We feel we need a little bit more at this point," said Agarkar.
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IND vs WI 2025: Ajit Agarkar explains reason behind dropping Karun Nair from India's Test squad. (Photo Source: Getty Images)
The chairman of selectors, Ajit Agarkar, explained why Karun Nair has been dropped from India’s Test squad for the two-match series against the West Indies. The BCCI announced a 15-member squad with Shubman Gill as captain and Ravindra Jadeja as vice-captain.
Agarkar stated that the team had expected more from Nair, who failed to meet the required standards after being given an opportunity in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025. Notably, the right-handed batter scored just 205 runs at an average of 25 in the series, playing in multiple positions for India. He added that Devdutt Padikkal was preferred due to his promising form in the India A series, adding that he offers more stability and consistency to the batting lineup.
“Frankly we expected a little bit more. He’s played four Tests, but we’ve spoken about just one innings. It is the way it is. We feel we need a little bit more at this point. We feel Padikkal offers a little bit more at this point and I wish we could give everyone 15 or 20 Tests. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. Padikkal has been in the Test squad, he was in Australia, played against Australia, played in Dharamsala against England, got a 50. Showed decent form with India A,” said Agarkar at the press conference while naming India's squad.
The chief selector also addressed the exclusion of Abhimanyu Easwaran, stating that India does not require another opener at the moment. He emphasised that the team has sufficient options with two openers for the series.
“On Abhimanyu, we don’t need a third opener at home,” Agarkar said.
India will face the West Indies in a two-match Test series, with the first Test starting on October 2 in Ahmedabad and the second Test beginning on October 10 in Delhi. The squad aims to strike the right balance for the challenging series ahead.
New Zealand home series was a wake-up call: Ajit Agarkar
Agarkar also stated that the home series defeat against New Zealand in 2024 was a "wake-up call" for the team and they do not want to repeat that result, especially in the context of the World Test Championship points up for grabs. Notably, India were outplayed by a visiting New Zealand team, as they endured their first-ever clean sweep (3-0) at home and also registered their first home Test series loss since the 2-1 defeat to England in 2012.
"All these four Test matches that we'll play at home, two West Indies and two South Africa, become very critical. It's a game, so anything's possible, but you don't want to try and let what happened against New Zealand happen again," he added.
India squad for West Indies series
Shubman Gill (captain), Ravindra Jadeja (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Narayan Jagadeeshan
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