India likely to rest injured Virat Kohli for warm-up game against West Indies Cricket Board XI

India have had a fantastic time in their tour of West Indies so far. They convincingly won the T20I series 3-0 and on the back of Virat Kohli’s brilliance in the ODI series where he accumulated 234 runs including two centuries, India won the ODI series 2-0.

They will take on the hosts, West Indies, in a two-match Test series starting from Thursday 22nd August 2019. Before heading into their first match of the ICC Test Championship, India will take on West Indies Cricket Board XI in a three -day warm-up game starting from Saturday.

India welcome Test match specialists like Ravichandran Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara into the fold. Jasprit Bumrah who was rested for the LOIs wing of the tour will be part of the team for the Tests. They will be looking at getting good quality time in the middle ahead of the start of the Test series.

Injured Kohli might skip the game

Virat Kohli, who sustained a minor thumb injury en route to his 43rd ODI century would most likely be rested for the warm-up match against the West Indies Cricket Board XI. It makes complete sense for the Indian team management to give the other batsmen a long run and rest their skipper.

The focus should rightly shift to the Test match specialists as far this warm-up game goes. Cheteshwar Pujara hasn’t played competitive red-ball cricket in over six months, he last played for Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy. India’s vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane would want to put a disappointing county stint where he scored only 307 runs in seven games at an average of 23.61.

This warm-up game allows Jasprit Bumrah to get into the zone again after being rested for the LOI wing of the tour. Some players like Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant who had forgettable T20I and ODI series would want to use this game to get used to the red ball and get much confidence ahead of the Test series.

India’s bowlers led by Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav would want to put in the long yards along with spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. It’s important for all the bowlers to get adequate time in the middle without straining themselves too much.

India are the No. 1 ranked Test team ahead of the start of the two-match series against the West Indies. They will start as overwhelming favorites to win the series.

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