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:

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.