IND vs SL 2022: The Indian team management has released Kuldeep Yadav from the squad and added fit-again Axar Patel to the contingent.
India dished out a clinical performance to record an innings win against Sri Lanka in the first Test. Ravindra Jadeja was adjudged as Player of the Match for his unbeaten 175 in the first innings and nine wickets in the game. The action now shifts to Bengaluru where India and Sri Lanka will square off against each other in the second Test, beginning Saturday.
The Indian team management has released Kuldeep Yadav from the squad and added fit-again Axar Patel to the contingent. The all-rounder has completed his rehab and was cleared by the medical team as the team management faces a happy headache when it comes to the final combination. But former India international Wasim Jaffer feels Axar is likely to be included in the eleven for the pink-ball Test.
Jaffer said that the hosts will ponder the inclusion of Mohammed Siraj but eventually select Axar as the eleventh player in the team. “Teams should look to bat first after winning the toss, especially in India, no doubt. I think Axar Patel will walk back into the playing XI, but India will be tempted to look at Mohammad Siraj with the pink ball. So, the only debatable position is the eleventh position, whether it is Siraj or Axar, but most likely it would be Axar,” said Jaffer on ESPNCricinfo.
Axar was phenomenal in India’s last pink-ball Test where he picked up 11 wickets against England at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. He was last seen playing in the home assignment versus New Zealand last year.
In the first Test, Sri Lanka made 178 in their second innings after getting bundled out for 174 in the first. India, who declared their first innings on 574-8, enforced the follow-on. Jaffer believes the visiting side should include a second spinner in their combination and “bat big” to avoid a 0-2 defeat.
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“I think Sri Lanka should play a second spinner, they needed that in the first Test. So, we could easily see that happening. Sri Lanka need to bat big. That’s the easiest way they can get into a commanding position. If they score something close to 450, they can force something to happen. If India bat big, then I see no chance for Sri Lanka,” Jaffer further said.
The Test marks the first time that the Chinnaswamy stadium will host an international match since the third ODI between India and Australia on January 19, 2020. It is also the first Test match to be played at the venue since Afghanistan’s first-ever Test match was played against India on January 14 and 15, 2018.
Chinnaswamy earlier was going to host the first Test, which would have been Virat Kohli’s 100th game in the longest format. However, it was then decided as the venue for the second Test so as to facilitate a direct flight back home for Sri Lanka.
IND vs SL 2022: ‘He was a hard taskmaster’: Ashwin reserves high praise for ex-India batter
IND vs SL 2022: Ravichandran Ashwin recalled training under the former India batter, and also revealed how he played a key role in his development as a cricketer.
Last week, Ravichandran Ashwin broke Kapil Dev’s wicket-taking record to become India’s second-highest wicket-taker in Tests. Ashwin dismissed Sri Lanka’s Charith Asalanka to achieve the feat, and now remains only behind former leg-spinner and captain Anil Kumble, who has 619 dismissals to his name. The 35-year-old Indian off-spinner made his Test debut in 2011 and has since represented the country in 85 matches so far.(IND vs SL 2022)
Ashwin, who represents Tamil Nadu in the domestic circuit, made his First-class debut for the state in 2006. At the time of his debut, former India cricketer WV Raman was the coach of the state and Ashwin, in an interview posted by the BCCI, opened up on his beginnings for the state side under Raman.
Ashwin recalled his first experience of being trained under Raman, who he called a “hard taskmaster.”
“When I made my debut, I had walked into the Chepauk stadium and Raman was the coach. (He was) a hard taskmaster and a lot of people feared having conversations with him. So, we were going through this practice session one day and he was giving these fielding sessions. But the amount of pressure he used to inflict on people who were throwing the ball on the top of the stumps was incredible,” Ashwin recalled.
“If you didn’t throw the ball at the top of the stumps, he would just have a go at you. This kept happening for 10 days, 12 days, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, and we got a little comfortable. He used to prod me at the net, I used to question him and I didn’t really have fear speaking in the team meeting.”
Ashwin then revealed how Raman made him more acknowledging towards feedback and suggestions.(IND vs SL 2022)
“One day, he just took me to the side and said, ‘Ashwin, you’ve just come into the side. I appreciate you speaking in the team meetings, but you also need to understand why we say certain things. We say it with the intent to make sure that once you go to the Indian team, you are not found wanting with your basics’. And that really opened the floodgates for me and Raman forever. Because I knew this man had the best intent in place for anybody who walked into the ground inside this team,” said Ashwin.
The off-spinner is set to return to action on March 12 when the side takes on Sri Lanka in the second and final Test of the series in Bengaluru.