After the heartbreak of a World Cup exit, it will be back to action for the Indian cricket team and in many ways, the tour of the West Indies could not have come at a more opportune time for Virat Kohli and company. The selectors have a brilliant opportunity to address few of the gaping holes which impeded India's World Cup progress.
For starters, they need to fix the muddle of the middle order which refuses to go away. The tour starts with a 3-match T20I series and the process of building a side for next year's World T20 should ideally begin now. Young players in Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey have been making runs in the West Indies with the 'A' side and this is the perfect opportunity to test them out with this format and then subsequently with the 50-overs side.
Dhoni debate, and who will be the first-choice wicket-keeper
And then there is the massive debate over MS Dhoni. Whether or not, he is going to call it quits from the game remains a pertinent question, but he was not in peak form in the World Cup. And we are not talking about his batting, a normally safe Dhoni fumbled around a lot and conceded more byes than what one can be counted as comfortable. This is the chance for the selectors to give Rishabh Pant a go-ahead with a licence to be the first-choice wicket-keeper batsman.
Talking about Rishabh Pant, there is also the 2-match Test series which begins after the limited overs series. And here too, there is a big question. Wriddhiman Saha is fit, he is now raring to go, so what do the selectors do with him? Pant was always a replacement for Saha and the young man, grabbed his chances with both hands in the series against England, West Indies and Australia. So, the selectors have to make a decision - do they go back to Saha as he was the original choice of the Test wicket-keeper or stick with the younger, more exciting prospect in Rishabh Pant.
The other big question facing the selectors will be about identifying the next crop of seamers and once again, the 'A' side has options. Navdeep Saini has been mighty impressive with his pace, movement and hostility. Also, Khaleel Ahmed offers the left-arm variety which gives the selectors great cushion to work with. Both Khaleel and Saini bowled in the nets during India's World Cup campaign which means that the selectors have seen enough to make a call.
