Image Credit- BCCI
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 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.
With his ability to bat at No. 6 or 7 and bowl
fingerspin, Sundar is the closest substitute for Jadeja in terms of capacity to
replace him. However, it is unclear if Sundar can take on the same amount of
bowling duty as Jadeja, who bowls an average of about 44 overs every 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.
India’s squad for second Test against England
Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal,
Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar
Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Avesh
Khan, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Washington Sundar, Saurabh Kumar.