Nair May Make Way for Padikkal in West Indies Test Series

Karun Nair's second chance in the England series may be over. The selection meeting for the 2 Test series against West Indies will be held on September 24. BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said it will be an online meeting.

Nair played 4 Tests in the England series, but scored only 205 runs, including a solitary half-century in 8 innings. This was in a series dominated by batting, where over 7,000 runs were scored.

However, his return to international cricket was on the back of some robust performances in domestic cricket. Unfortunately for him, the selectors appear to be exploring alternatives.

Devdutt Padikkal is emerging as a strong contender, having hammered a 150 against Australia A in Lucknow. He was part of the squad in the last Border-Gavaskar Trophy and may take Nair's place in the squad.

• The batting line-up is expected to remain almost the same, with Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan and KL Rahul, besides Padikkal.
• Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar and Axar Patel will be the all-rounders.
• Kuldeep Yadav will join the squad, alongside Dhruv Jurel and N Jagadeesan.
• Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna will be the pacers, but Bumrah's participation will depend on the Asia Cup.

The two Tests will be held in Ahmedabad (from October 2 to 6) and New Delhi (from October 10 to 14).