Trinidad: If everyone is well, there should be no doubt about India's starting XI given the level of dominance they shown in the series opener against the West Indies in Dominica, winning by an innings and 141 runs in three days.
The second Test against the West Indies, which is scheduled to start on Thursday, will be India's last before their next Test match against South Africa right at the end of this year, so it is the only chance to give some of the younger players, particularly Mukesh Kumar, some playing time.
If everyone is well, there should be no doubt about India's starting XI given the level of dominance they shown in the series opener against the West Indies in Dominica, winning by an innings and 141 runs in three days.
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The second Test against the West Indies, which is scheduled to start on Thursday, will be India's last before their next Test match against South Africa right at the end of this year, so it is the only chance to give some of the younger players, particularly Mukesh Kumar, some playing time.
"India won't make any changes be it their mindset, skillset or playing XI. They will bring the same brand of cricket to the table. They have been very strong, very sure about what they want. The Ashwin-Jadeja combo has done wonders. Debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal has done well. There is no room for a change unless there's a change. They have had a five-day break. In the Caribbean, you generally go to the beaches and that's what they must've done for the first two-three days and then they would've practised for two days," Karthik said.
Karthik stated the West Indies must overcome their mental blockage against India, which he believes has been a big factor in their inability to defeat the sub-continental powerhouse in a Test match since 2002.
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"This becomes an even more important one for West Indies because they haven't won a Test against since 2002. That's almost two decades. They would want to turn that around but they have a mental block against India. They need to find a way to sort that out. Do they need to make some changes? There's fast bowler, Shanon Gabriel, do they bring him in place of one of the seamers or do they strengthen their batting by dropping an extra seamer? Kirk McKenzie is an option," Karthik added.
"What West Indies need to bring is a lot of fire. They are capable of that. Under Kraigg Braithwaite, they have done a few special things, they need to draw confidence from them. They need to draw belief from that. Somewhere they have lost it in their mind before the Test started and this is not how international cricket should be played. I think they know that they are a much better team than the performance they have put in in the last Test," he said.
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