With precisely a month left for the West Indies Check sequence, India’s first-choice wicketkeepers are all out with accidents.
Everyone wants to erase the dreaded New Zealand series from their memory. That 0-3 defeat was perhaps worse than losing the ODI World Cup Final in 2023. A first-ever whitewash at home. 12 years of dominance ended by a team that didn’t even have their best batter, Kane Williamson.
Winning’s the only way to move forward. The India vs West Indies Test series will be just the perfect opportunity for that. The Windies are coming off a 0-3 drubbing at the hands of Australia at home. The last time they beat India in India was in 1983. It’s the kind of series where Shubman Gill and Gautam Gambhir can get things going at home.
Rishabh Pant’s fracture woes
But there might be an issue. A month before the 2-match series kicks off, India doesn’t have a wicketkeeper. I’m not being facetious here. Everyone knows that Rishabh Pant is India’s first-choice man behind the stumps. Undoubtedly, he’s the best keeper-batter in Test cricket at the moment.
But he got injured on July 23. A foot fracture had sidelined him. It was expected that he’ll need 4 weeks to recover. Well, that certainly isn’t the case. 5 weeks later, Pant continues to wear a protective fracture boot. It was expected that he’d be back to his best before the Asia Cup, but that hasn’t happened.
Pant himself is frustrated. “How many more days in this?” is what he wrote on social media on August 31, highlighting how bothersome the foot injury has been. So, the question is, what if Pant isn’t fit for the India vs West Indies Test?
Dhruv Jurel’s untimely injury
Dhruv Jurel will be India’s wicketkeeper, you say? Didn’t he keep wickets when Pant couldn’t during the England tour? Well, there’s an issue there as well. Pant’s backup is injured as well.
Selected as the Central Zone’s captain for the Duleep Trophy, Jurel didn’t play against the North East Zone. He has apparently picked up a groin injury. He couldn’t play the quarterfinal and won’t play the semifinal against the West Zone either. What if Jurel remains injured for the India vs West Indies Test series?
Ishan Kishan out since July
Don’t worry, India has an abundance of talent. We have backups for backups. Who is Jurel’s backup, you ask? It’s Ishan Kishan. Someone who’s represented India across formats and was playing County Championship during the English summer. Good, he’ll come in then. Well, he may not be able to either.
You see, while during his stint with Nottinghamshire, Kishan got into an accident. He fell from an e-bike, which forced him to get 10 stitches on his left foot. It was this exact reason why he wasn’t called as Jurel’s cover for the 5th Test at the Oval. And things haven’t gotten better.
Kishan was expected to be named the East Zone’s captain. But the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) pulled him out of the Duleep Trophy. Currently, he’s at the Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru, undergoing rehab. The move is precautionary, but what if Kishan isn’t fit either?
N Jagadeesan ready for a chance
Pant, his backup Jurel, and his backup Kishan might all be injured for the India vs West Indies series. This doesn’t sound nice. Gill and Gambhir won’t like it either. But that’s just how it is. Who’ll be the fourth man in line? That’s actually easy. Because of Kishan’s injury, N Jagadeesan was called upon as the backup for Jurel in England.
He didn’t make his debut there or keep wickets, but the selectors clearly see him as the next guy. Jagadeesan was Tamil Nadu’s best batter in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season. The wicketkeeper batter scored 674 runs in 8 matches at an average of 56.16, with 2 hundreds and 5 fifties to his name. He’s been picked for South Zone and might just continue that golden form of his.
If none of Pant, Jurel, or Kishan get fit, Jagadeesan will be India’s wicketkeeper for the India vs West Indies Test series.
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