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'He jumps straight back in the team': Bumrah singles out India star, hints at one major change in Playing XI
India vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah pointed out at the star player and dropped a major hint over the change in XI against Sri Lanka in the second Test.
Team India will return to action on Saturday when the side takes part in the second and final Test of the series against Sri Lanka. The second Test will be a day/night affair in Bengaluru and India will be aiming to secure a clean sweep victory in the series. Ahead of the game, India's vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah addressed a press conference where he talked about India's preparations for the pink-ball Test, and dropped a major hint over the return of a star player in the XI.
Earlier this week, it was confirmed that left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav had left the bio-secure bubble and Axar Patel, who had been injured since the home series against New Zealand last year, made a return to the team. Bumrah said that Axar will “jump straight back to the team” if he is fit.
Also read: IND vs SL: Jasprit Bumrah explains why Kuldeep Yadav was released from squad ahead of 2nd Test
“Axar has added a lot of value to the team, he offers a lot with the bat, bowl and the field and whenever he is fit, he jumps straight back in the team,” Bumrah told reporters during the pre-match presser on Friday.
Axar made a stellar start to his Test career last year, ending as the second-highest wicket-taker in his debut series against England (27 wickets in three Tests). In five Tests so far, Axar has taken 36 wickets.
“We will take a call on the combination (going in with thee spinners or three seamers) today after the practice session,” Bumrah said, while insisting that the team will be making some “mental adjustments” for the pink-ball Test.
“We are playing Pink Ball Tet after a long time. There will be a few mental adjustments that we have to make. It is not natural to catch with the pink ball for us. It is a challenge that we face. We are still new to this format, so we are taking feedback from our previous game and practising them and trying and replicate them in the match,” added the 28-year-old.
