India vs West Indies 2018: 3 Indian youngsters who can become future stars  

After their emphatic Asia Cup victory, the Indian team is back home and ready to start their two-match test series, against West Indies. The first Test match will be held in Rajkot from 4th of October, 2018, while the second match will get underway in Hyderabad, from the 12th of October.

After their humiliating 4-1 series defeat in England, the Indian team will be desperate to redeem themselves, in this series. Nothing less than a 2-0 series victory, against this mediocre West Indies team, will make the Indian team happy.

Moreover, this series will provide India, a chance to get their batting line-up settled, before their all-important Australia tour, in November. It was because of batting failure, that India lost two close test matches in England and hence lost the series 4-1.

The team management would definitely try to ensure that, such dismal batting performance does not get repeated, in Australia. So this series will provide the ideal platform, to try out some new talents in the batting lineup, and get them ready for the big challenge in Australia.

Keeping this in mind, the selectors have also gone ahead, in selecting fresh faces Pritvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal and Rishabh Pant ahead of Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay and Dinesh Karthik.

The Indian squad selected for the series is as follows:

India Squad: Virat Kohli (C), KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur

The two regular pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah have been given rest. The other senior players like Shikhar Dhawan and Dinesh Karthik have been dropped, after their poor performances in England.

From this fifteen-member squad, the playing XI, for the first test match in Rajkot,is as follows.

Virat Kohli (C), KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav.

In this article we discuss in detail about the 3 young members in this 11-men squad, who are most likely to become future stars of Indian Cricket.

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#1 Prithvi Shaw (Opening batsman)

Prithvi Shaw

This teenage sensation from Mumbai is set to make his Test Match debut, as an opener, at Rajkot. Although he is yet to begin his journey in International cricket, Prithvi is already carrying huge amount of expectation, on his tiny shoulders.

Prithvi Shaw was hailed as the next "Sachin Tendulkar", right from his school cricket days, because of his extraordinary performances. Then he made a tremendous start to his first-class career by scoring a hundred in his Ranji Trophy debut match. He has been a prolific runscorer for both Mumbai and India A, in the last two seasons.

It is because of his consistency and talent, that Prithvi is about to break into the star-studded Indian Test batting lineup, at a tender age of 18. He is a tremendous talent for sure, and if nurtured properly, he can definitely become "the Next Big Thing" of Indian cricket, after Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli.

#2 Kuldeep Yadav (Left-arm chinaman)

Kuldeep Yadav

The 23-year-old left arm Chainaman bowler has been a sensation in Indian Cricket. In the shorter formats of the game, viz ODIs and T20Is, Kuldeep's performance has been extraordinary.

Because of his tremendous performance, he has won over the confidence of the team management and is now leading the Indian spin attack, in the shorter formats of the game. However, because of the presence of greats like Ashwin and Jadeja, Kuldeep has played only three test matches, till now.

In those matches also, he had been quite impressive. Now, in home conditions, against West Indies, the Indian team management is most likely to go ahead with three spinners in the playing XI. This will provide Kuldeep the chance to prove himself in Test Cricket. If Kuldeep is able to perform up to his potential, then he can definitely outperform Ashwin and Jadeja, and cement his place in the test side for the Australia tour.

With his ability to spin the ball and take wickets in all conditions, Kuldeep is a big asset and has the potential to become one the best Indian spinners of all time.

#3 Rishabh Pant (Wicketkeeper batsman)

Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant has been a consistent matchwinner for Delhi in domestic cricket. He got his opportunity to play for India, in the last three Test matches against England. And he grabbed his opportunity with both hands, as he went on to score his maiden Test century in the last test match.

As a result of his excellent batting performance, he has been chosen ahead of experienced wicketkeepers like Dinesh Karthik, Parthiv Patel and Wriddhiman Saha. His attacking style of batting in the lower middle order is ideal for India.

He is a raw talent and has huge potential. If he is able to play his natural game consistently, then he will surely be a big asset for India. Rishabh Pant has the potential to become a star wicketkeeper batsman for India, like his predecessor, MS Dhoni. Only time will tell, whether he is able to do justice to his potential or not.