3 Indian ODI specialists who might not play Test cricket again

Indian cricket these days has been under a lot of scrutinies, majorly for their selections and their tendency to defy the perpetual cricketing logic. In their recent 1-4 series loss against England, the skipper and the coach were criticized for some of their on-field tactics and certain team selections.

In the recently selected Indian Test squad for the home series against a mediocre West Indies side, selectors have taken some bold decisions in terms of future of certain players in the longest format of the game.

The decision was taken as a consequence of their dismal run in the past for India in Whites. This means a clear message has been sent to the players over uncertainty on their spot in Test cricket. By the looks of it, it can be assumed that the team management demands performance as none can survive merely based upon their reputations.

Here's a look at 3 Indian ODI specialists who can possibly see an end to their Test careers after exclusion from the Test squad.

---

#3 Dinesh Karthik

The veteran wicket-keeper batsman from Tamil Nadu received a Test call-up after an exile of eight years when he was roped in for the last Test against South Africa. However, Dinesh failed to make it to the XI. But destiny once again saw him in the Test squad, ahead of Parthiv Patel, when Saha failed to recover from his injury, as he boarded the plane to the UK.

Dinesh was in the XI for the first Test but he bagged a duck in the 1st innings and missed an absolute chance to take India home in the 2nd innings. Even in the 2nd Test, where every batsman failed, the wicket-keeper batsman was no different with scores of 1 and 0 in the respective innings. His poor run in both the Test matches saw him sidelined for the rest of the series and even left out from the series against West Indies.

It is certain that Dinesh has been discarded from the Test setup with India planning to invest more in youngsters such as Pant and Ishan Kishan.

#2 Shikhar Dhawan

This is a no-brainer featuring in this list. After Shikhar's poor overseas show continued even on his latest tour to England, the Delhi-born player was shown the way out of the Test team. It was a repeat telecast of the same old story for Gabbar as he had to warm the benches only after the first Test of the series. However, this time around, he was included back in the team for the remaining three Test matches.

But selectors seem to have taken a stand on his future with Indian cricket in Whites. The team management decided to drop the Asia Cup Player of the Series for India's upcoming home series against West Indies. This might, unfortunately, see curtains pulled over Dhawan's Test career.

Therefore, it can be assumed that Shikhar will travel to Australia only to represent India in the limited overs cricket.

#1 Rohit Sharma

Known as India's second best ODI batsman after Virat Kohli, Hitman has, time and again, earned huge praises for his ability to time the ball. Though that has never made it easy for him to find a settled place in the Indian Test squad. His burst onto the Test scenario saw him register two centuries in his first two games. And in the next 23 matches, he could only manage to add one more to take his tally to three tons in Test cricket.

His impotent technique against the moving ball came to the fore as he struggled to play the sharply nipping-in deliveries. As a result, India's vice-captain in Blues failed to make it to the Test squad against England. It was expected that Rohit might make a Test return in the series at home but selectors preferred to overlook him.

It might be certain that one of India's best white-ball player won't be able to ply his trade in the longest version of the game for his country.