• Source:JND
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India Squad for West Indies Test 2025: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief selector Ajit Agarkar explained the decision behind Karun Nair's exclusion from the India squad for the upcoming West Indies Test series, citing his subpar performance in the recent five-match Test tour of England.

Agarkar explained that the selectors "expected more" from Nair in England, where he played four Tests and managed to score only one half-century, scoring just 205 runs. Nair's omission paved the way for Devdutt Padikkal's incorporation in the squad.

Addressing the media after the squad announcement, Agarkar revealed that selectors had expected impactful performances from Nair during the England tour, emphasising that Padikkal currently offers more to the team than the 33-year-old.

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"Frankly, we expected a little bit more from Karun. He played four Tests, and you spoke about one innings. That's the way it is. We feel Padikkal offers a little bit more at this point. Wish we could give everyone 15-20 Tests," Agarkar said.

Padikkal's last appearance in Test cricket was in the first match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia in November 2024, where he scored 0 and 25 in two innings. 

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"Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. Padikkal has been in the Test squad. He was in the Test squad for BGT and played the Dharamshala Test against England. He has shown some decent form with India A. Frankly, expected more from Karun Nair," the chief selector added.

Team India Squad For West Indies Series:

Shubman Gill (captain), Ravindra Jadeja (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Narayan Jagadeeshan.