Xtra Time Web Desk: The Indian cricket team is gearing up for their upcoming series against the West Indies, and a new opening combo seems to be in the making. With Cheteshwar Pujara not included in the squad, Shubman Gill is expected to take up the No. 3 spot, allowing young talent Yashasvi Jaiswal to join forces with captain Rohit Sharma at the top of the order. The duo was seen opening the batting in the two-day practice game at Kensington Oval in Barbados.

It also indicates that the team management may try Yashasvi at the top of the order in the first test match against West Indies, starting at Windsor Park in Dominica from July 12. The left hander scored an impressive fifty along with his captain Rohit Sharma. Both the Indian openers looked confident against the opponent attack which had the likes of Mohammed Siraj, Jaydev Unadkat, and others.

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Yashasvi will compete against Ruturaj Gaikwad for the opening position. Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane are set to bat at positions 4 and 5, respectively, while the rest of the lineup is expected to remain unchanged.

Team India Head Coach Rahul Dravid, sees the West Indies series as a fantastic opportunity to test new strategies and ideas. They plan to make several changes and implement workload management by resting players. The competition between Ishan Kishan and KS Bharat will be resolved after India's warm-up game, and a decision will also be made between Axar Patel and Shardul Thakur based on the Dominica pitch.