The focus will be once again on the Mumbai Indians duo of Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya for two different reasons. According to various media reports, the selection committee led by Agarkar wanted to look beyond former captain Rohit Sharma for the ODI format of the game under captain Shubman Gill in the lead up to the ICC ODI World Cup 2027.
Agarkar is reportedly not pleased with the interference of BCCI officials in selection matters, including the insistence on picking Rohit Sharma, who scored a brilliant century in his last ODI match against England at Lord’s in July this year.
Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya, on the other hand, has been battling to recover from injury and hasn’t played in any professional match since IPL 2026 season. Pandya has been picked to play for India ‘A’ against Australia ‘A’ and it will be interesting to see if he will feature in the ODI and T20I squads against West Indies.
India will play three ODIs and five T20Is against the West Indies starting on September 27. Agarkar’s contract runs till October 4 and till Tuesday night, none of BCCI’s top brass had contacted the chairman. Agarkar on his part had told sources close to him that after the West Indies team selection meeting he is likely to mail a thank you note to secretary Devajit Saikia for BCCI giving him an opportunity to work for three years, according to a report by PTI news agency.
The lack of seam bowling all-rounders is an issue for selection committee if Pandya is unavailable for the ODI and T20I series. The second option apart from Hardik Pandya – Nitish Kumar Reddy – will be in Japan playing the Asian Games 2026 during the ODI series. The third and fourth options — Suryansh Shedge and Venkatesh Iyer – are currently injuries.
Will Rishabh Pant make ODI comeback?
Former Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant’s indifferent IPL 2026 form saw him lose Test vice-captaincy and also a place in the white-ball sides but with Ishan Kishan in Japan, the Delhi Capitals wicketkeeper might just get a look-in in the squad of 15 with KL Rahul being the first choice ODI keeper. Rahul is also likely to be Shubman Gill’s deputy in absence of Shreyas Iyer in the ODI series against West Indies.
In case Pant misses out on ODI return, then selectors will go for Rajasthan Royals wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel and send Pant to lead Rest of India in the Irani Cup 2026 against Jammu and Kashmir in Srinagar.
Chenai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad is expected to take the No 4 slot in the line-up after skipper Gill, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Yashasvi Jaiswal will be the reserve opener while reserve middle order batter in all likelihood will be Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper Rajat Patidar.
Both Gaikwad and Patidar are also supposed to play for India A after the West Indies ODIs with the former leading the team.