Johnson, Chandrika, Bishoo in Test Squad for India Tour

— Chase earns maiden call-up

Guyana Jaguars captain Leon Johnson, opener Rajendra Chandrika and leg spinner Devendra Bishoo are the three Guyanese named in the West Indies squad to face India in the First Test starting July 21 at Antigua when the squad of 12 was announced yesterday.

Johnson gained a recall on the back of a solid first class season where he finished as the leading run scorer with an aggregate of 807 runs from 17 innings at an average of 57.64.

To date, Johnson has played four Tests and scored 275 runs at an average of 39.28, with a highest score of 66. He was omitted from the Test team after the tour of South Africa that ended in January 2015.

During that series Johnson scored 168 runs at an average of 33.60, which was the third best aggregate for West Indies on that tour, but was surprisingly drop for the home series against Australia and England.

Opening batsman Chandrika is fortunate to be given another opportunity after failing to impress in his previous Tests which saw returns of 87 runs from three matches at a mediocre average of 14.50. In addition he had a lackluster run in the Region first class season where he scored a mere 371 runs from 12 innings at an average of 30.91.

He is expected to start the batting with Kraigg Braithwaite who was named as the deputy to Jason Holder, who was retained as the captain.

Meanwhile, Bishoo who is a consistent performer at the Regional level and was with the squad on its most recent outing has managed a place in the side. He is the lone frontline spinner in the unit and is expected to start in the first game.

Barbados middle order batsman Royston Chase, who can be very handy with his off spin, is the only new comer to the squad. Chase also scored heavily in the Regional First Class competition, finishing fourth on the table, with 710 at 59.16 for Barbados.

Notable omissions are fast bowlers Jerome Taylor and Kemar Roach along with wicket keeper batsman Denesh Ramdin. Taylor, 32, who had played 46 Tests for West Indies since debuting in 2003, informed the board that he is retiring from the longest format, the Board said in a release. He will continue to be available in the shorter formats. Roach was dropped after a poor outing in his previous Test series in Australia while Ramdin was overlooked for rookie Shane Dowrich. Ramdin was also sanction by the WICB for his outburst regarding his non selection.

Others who were left out from the squad that tour Australia are spinner Jomel Warrican, fast bowler Miguel Cummins and batsman Shai Hope.

WI squad for India first Test; Jason Holder (captain), Kraigg Brathwaite (vice-captain), Devendra Bishoo, Jermaine Blackwood, Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Rajendra Chandrika, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich (wk), Shannon Gabriel, Leon Johnson, Marlon Samuels.

In: Roston Chase, Leon Johnson. Out: Miguel Cummins, Shai Hope, Denesh Ramdin, Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor, Jomel Warrican.

Weak Bowling Department

Looking at the team it is predicted that West Indies will have long periods in the field. Its bowling department is particularly inexperience and can be deemed a weak unit against a strong India batting line up.

The frontline bowlers in the squad are former International Cricket Council (ICC) emerging player of the year Bishoo and fast bowler Gabriel. Bishoo has so far grabbed 55 wickets from 15 Tests, but on most occasions he is usually without a partner to bowl in tandem with, and as a result the burden of dismissing the opposition is placed on him.

It is not questionable that Gabriel is among the fastest in the Region, but his return of 34 wickets from 16 Tests is difficult to comprehend the board’s decision to let him spearhead the attack.

Besides Bishoo and Gabriel, back up bowling is expected from Holder and all-rounder Carlos Braithwaithe. Two all-rounders, whose bowling are yet to be effective in any format of cricket.

These bowlers will be bowling against a batting line up comprising, Virat Kohli arguably the best batsman across all formats, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Murali Vijay.

It is unimaginable that this would be a West Indies attack against a top class India batting line-up. However, the fans from the region must await the verdict from the first Test, since the team has already been selected.