The Ajit Agarkar-led selection gave a maiden Test call-up to Manav Suthar, Harsh Dubey and Gurnoor Brar for the one-off Test match against Afghanistan. Left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey has scored 1026 first-class runs at an average of 25.65 and the SRH spinner has been picked ahead of Axar Patel, who was not part of the Test squad for the South Africa series at home.
Manav Suthar picked 18 wickets in only three Ranji Trophy matches in the last season. The left-arm orthodox spinner also played in the second unofficial Test against Australia A in September last year, which India A won, picking up 5 for 107 and 3 for 50.
Furthermore, Gurnoor, the left-arm seamer from Punjab, also played in the two unofficial Tests against Australia A, taking eight wickets as he finished as the joint-highest wicket-taker in that series alongside Suthar.
“That is the role we are looking at anyway,” chief selector Ajit Agarkar said on Dubey and Brar’s selections. “With the Test team, we can see there is a lot of transition happening at this point. We are looking at options. A couple of players have moved away from Test cricket… We want guys who can contribute with the bat down the order but also have the necessary skill to be a front-line spin or a front-line seam bowler. We think he certainly fits the bill. We are hopeful that when he gets that opportunity, he shows what he can do. We have seen enough over the last couple of years, maybe a little bit more. He seems to have the necessary skill to succeed at this level.”
KL Rahul takes over the vice-captaincy baton for the red-ball format, from Rishabh Pant. “KL has been Test captain before,” Agarkar noted. “Obviously, Rishabh was vice-captain and we wanted him to be the best batter he can… So, no, there’s no reason [for the change in vice-captaincy]. That’s the best option we think at this point we have as far as vice-captain with experience [is concerned].
“We saw during the South African series as well when Shubman [Gill] got injured. And KL provides us the necessary experience you need in case the situation arises. Plus, he has obviously had a really good tour of England and against the West Indies,” he reasoned.
“Rishabh is an incredible Test player. Obviously, he is not part of the one-day squad at the moment… I don’t think there is any concern with his spot in the Test team. I think he is one of our main batters in that line-up. He had a really good tour of England until he got injured. I am sure he would like a few more [white-ball] runs, but he has always been very good in Test cricket,” Agarkar said.
Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja have been rested from the one-off Test against Afghanistan. Auqib Nabi Dar, who impressed one and all in the previous Ranji Trophy season, was ignored by the selectors.
The only Test of Afghanistan’s tour will be played from June 6-10 in Mullanpur – a first for the New Chandigarh venue.
India Test squad: Shubman Gill (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (vc), Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey, Dhruv Jurel.
