NEW DELHI: India's squad for the two-Test home series against West Indies was announced by chief selector Ajit Agarkar on Thursday, with Nitish Reddy and Devdutt Padikkal returning to the team. The 15-man squad, led by Shubman Gill, does not include Karun Nair or Abhimanyu Easwaran, both of whom featured in the tour of England.

Star India pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who featured in just three of the five Tests in England due to workload management, has made himself available for the upcoming series starting in Ahmedabad on October 2.

Ravindra Jadeja has been named vice-captain of the squad, which will be led by Shubman Gill.

Regular vice-captain Rishabh Pant, sidelined with a fractured foot sustained during the England series, has yet to regain full fitness and was therefore unavailable for selection.

"...hopefully will be available for home Tests against South Africa (in November)," Chairman of Selector Ajit Agarkar said.

Dhruv Jurel and N Jagadeesan are the two wicket-keepers in the squad to make up for his absence.

On Bumrah, Agarkar was clear that the pacer is well-rested and good to go in the series that gets underway on October 2 in Ahmedabad.

"This is a team for both the Test matches. So, he's available for both. We've had a fair break after England. He didn't play the fifth Test either. There's been a month or five weeks of break," he said in response to a PTI query.

"This tournament (the ongoing Asia Cup here where Bumrah is playing) has been fairly spaced out till this last week. He's ready and keen to play both Test matches," Agarkar explained.

However, while speaking on Nair, he was clear that the 30-year-old burly Bengaluru man didn't make full use of opportunities, scoring one fifty in eight innings during the tour of England.

"We feel Padikkal offers a little bit more at this point and I wish we could give everyone 15 or 20 Tests. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way," Agarkar said.

"Padikkal's been in the Test squad. Frankly, we expected a bit more from Karun in England. Devdutt was in the Test squad in Australia, played in Dharamsala against England, got a 50 there. He's shown some decent form within the race," the former pacer stated.

When asked why Sudharsan got the nod when he and Nair had a similar run in England, Agarkar said: "Eventually, it's a little bit about continuity. There were a few changes at No.3 because of the combination that we played.

"But going forward, Sai has shown a lot of promise. We know he's a very good player. Hopefully, we can give him a longish run from now on, at a particular number," he explained.

No place for Easwaran

Easwaran, a frequent traveller with the squad for the last three to four years but never a member of the playing team, now finds himself out of the picture.

Agarkar urged people not to read too much into it, although with no foreign tours for the next one year, Easwaran's Test debut looks unlikely with N Jagadeesan being looked at as a potential third opener.

"Normally, when you travel abroad, you carry 16 or 17, you take a third opener. KL Rahul and (Yashasvi) Jaiswal haven't done too badly. At the moment, we don't need a third opener just sitting out in the squad," Agarkar said.

"If need be, we can always fly him and play the Test."

The selectors felt that Axar Patel as an all-rounder is a better fit.

"You get an extra spinner all-rounder in Axar Patel who wasn't part of the squad to England and we've only picked 15 here. There's nothing to his story."

No update on Shami

On the status of veteran pacer Mohammed Shami, Agarkar said he is unaware of how fit he is and hinted that he is not in the scheme of things.

"I don't have an update," was his quick retort when asked about Shami.

"He's played a couple of matches. But he's not had a lot of cricket. In the last two-three years, I think he's played one match for Bengal and one match in the Duleep Trophy," the chairman said.

Squad: Shubman Gill (c), Ravindra Jadeja (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), N. Jagadeesan (wk), Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

(With PTI Inputs)