'Go well Dream 11 for WI Series': Fans slam BCCI after images of India's new Test jersey surface online
India fans were not too impressed by the team's new Test jersey design.
India take on the West Indies in a two-match Test series starting on Wednesday in Dominica. India go into the series on the back of a rare break from international duties, with their last assignment being the World Test Championship final against Australia. The WTC final was also the first time India played a match with their new kit sponsors Adidas.
The jerseys that the team sported was well received by fans, especially due to the fact that it had the team name written in front as opposed to what was the case earlier where the lead shirt sponsor's name would be written there. Now, Dream11 has taken up that place, having bagged the rights to be the team's new jersey sponsor earlier this month. Pictures of the players sporting the new jersey has surfaced online and fans are rather unimpressed by the change.
India captain Rohit Sharma posted a selfie on his Instagram stories wearing the shirt. A number of headshots of his teammates in the new jersey have also popped up on Twitter and the sight of the new Dream11 logo in front of the jersey in place of where the team's name was written during the WTC final has irked a number of fans.
New jersey and new beginnings for India
The two-Test series against the West Indies marks the start of the new WTC cycle for India. They have managed to reach both the WTC finals that have been held thus far but lost to New Zealand in 2019 and Australia this year. While India's batting unit failed to impress in the match, it is only veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara who got the drop from that squad. Young star Yashasvi Jaiswal is expected to make his international debut batting in the No.3 slot that Pujara made his own over the course of his illustrious career.
While the presence of Jaiswal has been praised, the selectors were roundly criciticised for including senior players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the squad instead of giving chances to younger players. Former India captain and batting great Sunil Gavaskar said that the likes of Sarfaraz Khan should have also been given a go considering the fact that the West Indies are not the most difficult of challenges in Test cricket any more.
"West Indies are no more the force they were in the last century as can be seen by the fact that they are currently playing in Zimbabwe to try and qualify for the ODI World Cup that they won twice in the 70s. So picking some younger players for the Test series would have made more sense," Gavaskar had written in his column for Mid-Day shortly after the team was announced.
"What is Indian cricket going to learn by picking the same seniors for the two Test matches who have now failed to deliver in two World Test Championship finals. How does it even matter if they score heaps of runs and take a bunch of wickets in the Caribbean apart from it bulking up their individual career stats," said Gavaskar.
