VISAKHAPATNAM: The second Test between India and England, which is scheduled to begin in Visakhapatnam on February 2, will not include Ravindra Jadeja or KL Rahul.
On the fourth day of the first Test in Hyderabad, Jadeja hurt his hamstring, and Rahul reported having soreness in his right quadriceps, according to a statement from the BCCI. India’s team now includes all-rounder Washington Sundar, left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar, and middle-order batsman Sarfaraz Khan.
Saurabh, a left-arm spinner from Uttar Pradesh with 290 first-class wickets at a rate of 24.41, has not yet made his debut but has previously been selected for an India Test team, having been included for their December 2022 tour of Bangladesh. He joins the team in fine form, having taken five wickets in the second innings of India A’s most recent innings victory over the England Lions. Sarfaraz, who averages 69.85 with 14 hundreds in 45 games, has been a persistent presence at selectors’ doors thanks to his outstanding first-class results in recent seasons. In that match, he also scored 161 off 160 balls.
The inability of India to overcome their 28-run loss in the opening Test is mostly due to the absence of Jadeja and Rahul. They will remain without Virat Kohli, who withdrew from the first two Tests due to personal reasons, in addition to the injured pair.
In four Test matches, Washington Sundar has three fifty-score runs.
In four Test matches, Washington Sundar has three fifty-score runs.• Picture Source: Getty Images
In addition to hitting 87 and 2, Jadeja got 3 for 88 and 2 for 131 in Hyderabad after being run out during India’s fourth-inning chase. In India’s first innings, Rahul scored 86 runs. India may find it more difficult to replace Jadeja, but it appears likely that the uncapped Rajat Patidar, who was joined to the squad following Kohli’s withdrawal, will take Rahul’s place in the middle order in Visakhapatnam.
Over the course of 53 Test matches, Jadeja has averaged over 40 with the bat and under 25 with the ball, making him one of the top all-rounders in international cricket since the beginning of 2016. With his ability to bat at No. 6 or 7 and bowl fingerspin, Sundar is the closest replacement to Jadeja in terms of value. However, it is unclear if he can take on the same burden as the latter, who bowls an average of around 44 overs each home Test. With three fifties and a batting average of 66.25 from his four prior Test matches (the latest of which was in 2021), Sundar has only taken six wickets at an average of 49.83.
It is expected that India would attempt to replace Jadeja with a frontline spinner, in which case Kuldeep Yadav, the attacking left-arm wristspinner, is likely to come into the team. India’s chosen XI also includes two additional spin-bowling all-rounders in R Ashwin and Axar Patel. With 34 wickets at 21.55 in his Test career, Kuldeep has an outstanding record, but because of Ashwin and Jadeja, he has been an infrequent presence in India’s attack, appearing in just eight matches since making his debut in 2017. In his most recent Test match, in December 2022, Kuldeep won Player of the Match after amassing 8 wickets at an average of 113 in a 188-run victory over Bangladesh at Chattogram.
The Indian team for the second Test matchup with England
Shubman Gill, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Avesh Khan, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Washington Sundar, Saurabh Kumar, Rohit Sharma (C), and Shreyas Iyer are all listed as well as KS Bharat (WK) and Dhruv Jurel (WK).
