India's Test squad for the home series against West Indies is out, and the headline is who isn't in it. Karun Nair, whose comeback Test series after an eight-year gap came against England in 2025, has again been left out — while Devdutt Padikkal, fresh off a century in Sri Lanka, keeps his place.
India will play two Tests against West Indies, the first at Ahmedabad from October 2 and the second in Delhi from October 10, as the tourists make their first Test visit to India since 2018. Shubman Gill continues as captain, with Ravindra Jadeja as vice-captain, and Dhruv Jurel retained as the frontline wicketkeeper.
Nair's recall for India's 2025 tour of England was itself a notable call after such a long gap, but the returns were thin: 205 runs from four Tests at an average of 25.62, with a single half-century to show for it — a 57 off 109 balls at The Oval in the match India went on to win by six runs to level that series 2-2. Everywhere else in that series, he struggled to convert starts, and he did not feature in India's Test series in Sri Lanka this August either. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar was blunt about the decision, saying the selectors "expected more from Karun Nair" and that "it can't just come down to one innings" — a pointed reference to the Oval fifty being the one obvious counter-argument for his inclusion.
Padikkal's continued selection comes on the back of the strongest form of his Test career: a century in the second Test in Colombo against Sri Lanka this August, part of the platform that helped India post 503/9 declared in that match. Combined with a century for India A against Australia A in an unofficial Test in Lucknow, it is exactly the kind of recent weight of runs that made him easy to retain over a batter whose case rests on a single series-defining innings more than a year old.
Nair's omission is the clearest sign yet that India's middle-order audition process, which has cycled through several names across formats this year, is not going to wait indefinitely for any one player to nail down a spot. A player whose case for inclusion rests on one substantial score from a series over a year ago is exactly the profile selectors have shown little patience for recently — the same pattern that has shaped white-ball selection all year. Whether Nair gets another chance likely now depends on domestic weight of runs rather than reputation.
West Indies arrive for a series that, on paper, India will start as strong favourites for at home, but the composition of this squad — Gill and Jadeja atop the leadership group, Jurel settled behind the stumps, and Padikkal given a fresh opportunity at the top or middle order — suggests the selectors are using these two Tests as much to finalise combinations ahead of the WTC cycle as to simply beat West Indies.
More squad news and series previews will follow as October approaches. Track fixtures and build fantasy lineups on SportGod's free contests, and check AI predictions once the West Indies squad and venue conditions are confirmed.
Squad details, playing figures and the selector's quote are verified against same-day reporting of the India squad announcement, current as of August 31, 2026.
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