5 Indian players for whom the West Indies Test series will be crucial

India’s home bilateral series against the West Indies will comprise of 2 Test Matches, 5 ODIs and 3 T20Is played through October and into November 2018, before Team India leaves for their next big overseas assignment, the tour of Australia in 2018-19.

While this home series against the West Indies is being dismissed by some quarters as merely an irrelevant, money-spinning exercise that won’t adequately prepare the side for their trip Down Under, it is still a highly important assignment for those Test players who couldn’t perform to expectations in England and those who’ve broken into the Test squad and would like to make their place more permanent.

With that in mind, these are 5 players for whom this is a crucial Test series and who would benefit greatly from a good display in Rajkot and Hyderabad against a relatively lacklustre West Indies XI:

---

KL Rahul

KL Rahul would love to score big runs against the West Indies ahead of India's tour of Australia

KL Rahul is at a crossroads in his career at the moment. The initial talent he displayed to break into the Indian team has been backed up by some fabulous innings in international cricket, but not as consistently as most people would’ve liked.

A personally disappointing tour of England was bookended by a century in the 1st T20I at Old Trafford, and a century in the 2nd Innings of the Final Test at the Oval; but in between, was blighted by the inconsistency problems that have been a feature of his career in the Indian cricket team so far.

Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have been perhaps the best opening duo in white-ball cricket over the last 5 years; so it’s no surprise Rahul hasn’t been able to get a look-in to open the batting in the shorter formats of the game. But with those two currently out of Team India’s plans in Test Cricket, Rahul has a clear shot to build a successful opening combination with debutant Mayank Agarwal, and be a staple of the Indian Test XI.

This series against the West Indies represents a good opportunity for him to make a real case for himself as India’s Test opener for the tour of Australia.

Mayank Agarwal

Mayank Agarwal is all set to finally make his long-awaited Test Debut against the West Indies

Mayank Agarwal hasn’t so much been knocking on the door of the Indian Test XI as taking the proverbial wrecking ball and blasting a hole right through, with the sheer consistency and volume of runs in the Indian domestic circuit as well as with India A.

Over a thousand runs in the Ranji Trophy, more than 700 runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (India’s List A competition) and centuries on India A’s tour of England as well as a double century against South Africa A in Bengaluru have finally given him the opportunity to open the innings for India with his Karnataka team-mate KL Rahul.

He would love to use this opportunity to score big runs in his first ever Test Series so he can confirm his place in the Test XI ahead of the massive tour of Australia coming up next month.

Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane needs to find his form back in India's middle order.

India’s Test Series in England was one of the most difficult overseas tours of Ajinkya Rahane’s career, scoring 257 Runs in 10 Innings at an average of 25.70. A couple of half-centuries aside, he looked low on confidence, self-belief and was getting dismissed in similar fashion multiple times in England.

With Rahane out of India’s limited-overs plans, for the time being, this home series against the West Indies represents his best opportunity to stay relevant in the mind of the Indian selectors and continue to prove that he’s a vital element of the Test team's middle-order.

Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant has an excellent opportunity to stake his claim to be India's long-term Test Wicketkeeper

With Dinesh Karthik and Wriddhiman Saha out of the Test squad, the home series against West Indies represents a golden opportunity for perhaps the most exciting wicketkeeper-batsman India has produced since MS Dhoni himself.

Rishabh Pant has raised hopes among many Indian cricket fans that he could be India’s Adam Gilchrist; the similarities between the two left-handed attacking wicketkeeper-batsmen coming in at No. 6 or 7 are there for all to see. But Pant still has significant work to do on his keeping skills to convince as a Test-quality wicketkeeper; he conceded an unprecedented 76 byes in his first three Tests and will need to be alert behind the stumps to keep well even against the spinners on Day 4 or Day 5 tracks in the Indian subcontinent.

The game-changing ability he possesses with the bat, however, should ensure he’s given enough opportunities to succeed and become India’s Test keeper for the foreseeable future.

Umesh Yadav

Umesh Yadav is one of India's stable of fast-bowling options

With the elevation of Jasprit Bumrah to Test Cricket since India’s Tour to South Africa in January 2018 and his excellent performances for Team India in the long format, Umesh Yadav has mostly been India’s backup fast bowler across all formats of the game.

Due to the fixture congestion in international cricket these days, the BCCI have taken the right decision in opting to manage the workloads of India’s two premier all-format fast bowlers, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah.

This means it’s highly important to have a whole stable of high-quality fast bowlers who are ready to step in and perform in any format of the game. Umesh Yadav, with his pace and experience, is a crucial part of that. He will be looking to use whatever opportunities he gets against the West Indies to stay on the selectors’ minds and maybe even travel to Australia as one of the multiple fast-bowling options in India’s squad.