The team management will be forced to hand a Test debut to either Rajat Patidar or Sarfaraz Khan to compensate for KL Rahul's absence in the middle.
After losing the first Test in Hyderabad, the Indian team’s misery worsened with the news of key players suffering injuries. Ravindra Jadeja suffered a hamstring injury on Day 4 of the first Test while KL Rahul reported pain in his right quadriceps. Losing key players along with star batter Kohli’s absence has only compounded India’s worries, forcing the team to reassess its strategy and regroup ahead of the IND vs ENG 2nd Test.
In light of the recent developments, the selectors added uncapped Sarfaraz Khan, Sourabh Kumar and Washington Sundar and Rajat Patidar to the squad.
India has Kuldeep Yadav in the ranks as a potential replacement for Ravindra Jadeja. However, due to Rahul’s absence, the team management may be compelled to grant a Test debut to either Rajat Patidar or Sarfaraz Khan in order to address the vacancy in the middle order.
Shedding light on what will be India’s choice for the Vizag Test, India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour said it“will be tough” to pick one among Sarfaraz Khan and Rajat Patidar in the second Test against England.
Rathour said during a press conference, “It will be a tough choice. What value they bring to the team, of course, is that they are superb players. We have seen how well they have done in domestic cricket in the last few years.”
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He added, “So on these kind of wickets, I think they can really add a lot of value to the team. If we have to pick just one out of them, of course, it would be tough. But, that decision will be made by Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma.”The playing XI will be finalised keeping in mind the conditions.”
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