5 Indian players to watch out for on West Indies tour

Under the expertise of new Head Coach Anil Kumble, the Indian cricket team will set their foot at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua on July 21st trying to repeat the success of their 2011 tour and thus starting a new chapter under Jumbo with positivity. This will be an important series for many of the players, most of them touring the West Indies for the first time. After yet another grueling domestic season followed by the successful Zimbabwe tour, this is the best opportunity for the Test squad to start the season on a high. Though the hosts are under transition but West Indies is never an easy team to deafeat and Virat Kohli & Co. will have this on the back of their minds as well. Let’s look at the five players to watch out for in the 7-week long tour: 1. Ajinkya Rahane: Ajinkya Rahane. (Photo Source: BCCI) Since India will be missing the services of Mr. Dependable Rahul Dravid and the wristy VVS Laxman, who were the top run-getters of the last tour, the onus will be on Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara to hold the Indian innings together since Virat Kohli is more of an aggressive batsman and will take charge. It will be interesting to see how Rahane handles the added responsibility of vice captaining the side as well. The Mumbai lad has been in supreme touch in the longest format for the past 2 years and it won’t be a surprise to see him in the top 3 run scorers when the series ends. He has not just piled on runs in home Tests but has rather enjoyed touring tougher places like England, South Africa and New Zealand among others. It will be interesting to see how Rahane tackles this challenge. 2. KL Rahul: KL Rahul. (Photo Source: AFP) Another player on his first tour to the Caribbean, Lokesh Rahul has had a decent start to his Test career smashing 2 overseas centuries in just 5 games. After having a spectacular season in the IPL where he scored 397 runs for the RCB at an average of 44; he followed it up with a decent tour of Zimbabwe. Rahul will be hoping to capitalize on any chance he is given and cement his place as the permanent opener in the Test side since Shikhar Dhawan has been quiet with the bat for some time. The promising young batsman from Karnataka has age on his side and with the solid technique he possesses, only sky is the limit for him. His additional attribute of being handy with the gloves makes him a utility player for the team. 3. Virat Kohli: Virat Kohli. (Photo Source: Associated Press) With the kind of form the Indian Test captain is in, everybody will be keen to witness how he will shift gears to the 5-day format. He has been in scintillating touch in the shorter formats and would want to keep going in similar fashion. Virat Kohli has set the cricketing world on fire for the past 2 years but the last time he visited the West Indies, he was a rookie who could manage only 76 runs from 5 innings at a poor average of 15.20. Things have changed in the last last 5 years and he is now among the best batsman in the world. Virat is captaining the largest cricket playing nation. Let’s hope he can add a couple of hundreds to his name this time around and prove his worth in the toughest format of the game as well. 4. Ishant Sharma: Ishant Sharma. (© AFP/Getty Images) Ishant Sharma is the most experienced players in the current Test team with over 200 wickets from 68 Tests. Coach Anil Kumble has said that he wants the tall pacer to lead the bowling attack and he should with the bag of experience he has on his back. The last time India were in West indies playing Test cricket, Ishant tore apart the West Indian batting lineup and ended with as many as 22 wickets from just 3 Tests including two 5-wicket hauls. After suffering a hamstring injury during the IPL, Ishant has had a long rest and will be a force to reckon with if he hits the right lengths on the Caribbean tracks full of surprises. The responsibility doubles this time since he doesn’t have the luxury of looking upto someone but rather has others seeking inspiration from him. 5. Ravichandran Ashwin: Ravichandran Ashwin. (Photo Source: BCCI) Ravichandran Ashwin may not have shown the kind of form he was expected to in this year’s IPL, but his Test experience and the ability to bamboozle batsmen on tracks that are conducive to spin bowling makes him a lethal weapon in the Caribbean conditions. Ashwin can spin the ball both ways and possesses a wide variety of deliveries at his disposal. The last year saw him use the variations sparsely and more effectively to be termed ‘surprise weapons’. His stock ball the conventional off-spinner is getting him the wickets and that is when he is at his best. With leg-spinner Amit Mishra also in the squad, he can form a deadly combination of spin as it is a proven fact that bowling partnerships are as crucial as the batting ones.

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5 Indian players to watch out for on West Indies tour

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