End of road for Karun Nair; Devdutt Padikkal picked for India’s home Tests against Windies

Karun Nair, who donned the India colours in India's tour of England, after a stupendous Ranji series, will not be part of the squad to play against the visiting West Indies. However, in his place, the selectors have picked another Karnataka player with Kerala roots, Devdutt Padikkal, as they named the 15-member Test squad.

While Karun, who did not have a stellar outing in England, his replacement, Karnataka left-hander Padikkal, 25, is being seen as a long-term investment along with the 23-year-old Sai Sudharsan, who has locked the No.3 slot.

While announcing the squad in Dubai, chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar dropped elaborate hints that Karun and Bengal opener Abhimanyu Easwaran are no longer in the scheme of things.

Jasprit Bumrah, who only played three Tests in England, was named in the Test squad as Ravindra Jadeja was named the vice-captain in place of Rishabh Pant.

Bumrah, Agarkar said, was well-rested and good to go in the series that gets underway on October 2 in Ahmedabad. At present, the speedster is playing in the Asia Cup T20 Championships in Dubai.

"This is a team for both the Test matches. So, he's available for both. We've had a fair break after England. He didn't play the fifth Test either. There's been a month or five weeks of break," he said.

"This tournament (Asia Cup) has been fairly spaced out till this last week. He's ready and keen to play both Test matches," Agarkar explained.

Karun, Agarkar said, didn't make full use of opportunities, scoring one 50 in eight innings during the tour of England. "We feel Padikkal offers a little bit more at this point and I wish we could give everyone 15 or 20 Tests. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way," Agarkar said.

"Padikkal's been in the Test squad. Frankly, we expected a bit more from Karun in England. Devdutt was in the Test squad in Australia, played in Dharamsala against England, and got a 50 there. He's shown some decent form within the race," the former pacer stated.

When asked why Sudharsan got the nod when he and Nair had a similar run in England, Agarkar said: "Eventually, it's a little bit about continuity. There were a few changes at No.3 because of the combination that we played.

"But going forward, Sai has shown a lot of promise. We know he's a very good player. Hopefully, we can give him a longish run from now on, at a particular number," he explained.

Agarkar said Pant will only be available for the South Africa Tests. "Rishabh is the vice-captain at the moment and a key player. But unfortunately, he hasn't quite recovered to make this particular Test series. We're hopeful that he'll be available for South Africa. And Jadeja has been one of your top performers," he said.

The series against South Africa will feature two Tests in Kolkata and Guwahati from November 14 to 26. A three-match ODI and five-match T20 International series will follow the red-ball rubber.

On the status of veteran pacer Mohammed Shami, Agarkar said he is unaware of how fit he is and hinted that he is not in the scheme of things.

"I don't have an update," was his quick retort when asked about Shami. "He's played a couple of matches. But he's not had a lot of cricket. In the last two-three years, I think he's played one match for Bengal and one match in the Duleep Trophy," Agarkar said.

India squad:
Shubman Gill (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravindra Jadeja (VC), Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, N Jagadeesan (WK), Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav.