Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Wasim Jaffer among prominent names for India-West Indies Tests coverage on JioCinema

New Delhi: Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Wasim Jaffer, along with Aakash Chopra, Saba Karim, and Abhinav Mukund are among the prominent names to be on the expert panel for India-West Indies Tests coverage on the streaming platform JioCinema.

Ishant is the second Indian fast bowler to have played over 100 Tests (105 matches) and his best bowling figures in a Test match of 10-108 were recorded in West Indies during the 2011 tour.

On the same tour, opener Mukund made his debut for India, while Jaffer scored his career-best 212 against the West Indies at St. John’s in Antigua in 2006. India will be starting their 2023-25 World Test Championship cycle in two Tests against West Indies, which will be streamed on JioCinema for free.

Windsor Park in Dominica will host the first Test match from July 12-16, followed by the second Test at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad from July 20-24. The second Test will also mark the 100th Test match played between India and West Indies.

West Indies recently failed to qualify for this year’s ODI World Cup in India and are seeking to end a run of 21 years of not winning a Test match against India. On the other hand, the Rohit Sharma-led side is seeking a fresh start to the WTC cycle after losing the championship final to New Zealand and Australia in 2021 and 2023.

For India, veteran top-order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara and pacer Mohammed Shami are not there, with the chance for either of uncapped batters Yashasvi Jaiswal or Ruturaj Gaikwad to make a case for a long run at number three. In the fast-bowling department, either of Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini or Mukesh Kumar are in contention to be in the playing eleven.

The Test Series is followed by three-game ODI Series, with the first two matches to happen at Kensington Oval in Barbados on July 27 and 29. The third ODI will happen on August 1 at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad, which will be hosting a West Indies men’s ODI for the first time.

The T20I series will commence at Brian Lara Cricket Academy on August 3, followed by the second and third T20Is at the Guyana National Stadium on August 6 and 8. The series will end at Lauderhill, Florida, USA with the fourth and fifth T20Is on August 12 and 13 to be hosted by Broward County Cricket Stadium.

JioCinema will offer India tour of West Indies coverage in English, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bhojpuri, Bengali, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam, making it the first time a limited-overs bilateral series will be presented in 11 languages.

–IANS