Ind vs WI, 1st Test: Rohit Sharma confirms Yashasvi Jaiswal will make his debut, Shubman Gill to bat at No.3

Roseau [Dominica], July 11 (ANI): India skipper Rohit Sharma confirmed that he would have a new opening partner in the first Test of the two-match series against West Indies that begins in Dominica on Wednesday.
India will select a new opening combination in their first Test of the ICC World Test Championship 2023–25 cycle, with the skipper expected to be joined by 21-year-old left-hander Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Jaiswal enjoyed a successful year of white-ball cricket, hitting 625 runs in the 2023 IPL with an average of 48 and a strike rate of 163.61 while averaging over 80 in his first 26 First Class innings. Jaiswal also enjoyed a successful year of red-ball cricket, making 265 in the second innings of the Duleep Trophy Final last year.
In order to fill the spot left by Cheteshwar Pujara, who wasn't selected for this trip, Rohit's current partner Shubman Gill will go down to No. 3, according to the India captain.
"Gill will play at number 3 because Gill himself wants to play at number 3," Rohit said in a pre-match press conference ahead of the first Test on Wednesday.
"He discussed with Rahul (Dravid) that I have played all my cricket at 3 and 4. I think I can do better for my team if I bat at number 3. And it is good for us too because it becomes an opening combination of left and right," said the India skipper. 
"So I think we will try to do this and hopefully this will go on for a long time. Because we have been looking for a left-hander for many years. So now that we have got that left-hander, let's hope he performs well for the team. And he can really make that spot his own," Rohit added.
Vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane had earlier hinted at Jaiswal's inclusion in the XI and left a message for the youngster.
“Firstly I'm really happy for him [Jaiswal], he's a really exciting talent. He did really well in domestic cricket for Mumbai, did well in the IPL as well. Most importantly, the way he's batting in red-ball (cricket). He did well in the Duleep Trophy last year too," Ajinkya Rahane said 
“My message to him will be just to express his batting the way he's been batting, not to think too much about international cricket and all. It's all about, I think, going out in the middle and playing your game, playing with freedom. That is very important. I'm really happy for him," he added. 
According to Rohit, India would also use two spinners in the opening Test. Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin are expected to fill the two spinner places, with Axar Patel serving as the second spinner in the squad, albeit he did not specifically name them. 
India's Test squad against West Indies: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat and Navdeep Saini. (ANI)