Prithvi Shaw to make debut as India announce 12-man squad for 1st Test

Dhawan's axing in the aftermath of the England tour opened up one opening slot for Prithvi Shaw

Indian teenage batting sensation Prithvi Shaw is all set to make his Test debut against West Indies in Rajkot as he has been named in India’s 12-member shortlist for the first Test on Wednesday.

On the other hand, the other uncapped players like Mayank Agarwal and Mohammed Siraj have been left out of the squad.

The squad read:

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

Shaw was also named earlier in the squad for the England Tests. Despite replacing Murali Vijay, he couldn’t get a chance to show his heroics as the team preferred Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul over the teenager.

But now, India has no option than trying out the young talent as both Dhawan and Vijay have been axe from the two-match series.

At the same time, it’s not a matter of surprise that the hosts have opted to go with all their three spinners. In the pace department, Umesh have been named as the second speedster of the team who will assist Mohammed Shami in the match while Shardul has been named the 12th man.

Since India will be back with their 5-bowler theory, Hanuma Vihari will ultimately be forced to be benched n spite of his impressive debut at The Oval.

The logic behind announcing a 12-man squad

From now onwards, Team India will announce their 12 a day before the Test. Most of the Test playing nations have been doing in and now India has joined the league.