Team India on Saturday handed a debut to left-arm spinner Axar Patel for the second Test against England in Chennai while chinaman Kuldeep Yadav was finally included in the playing XI as the hosts look to bounce back in the series after losing the first game by 227 runs earlier this week.
Team India won the toss and elected to bat first against England at the Chepauk.
Washington Sundar made way for Axar Patel, who makes his Test debut after nearly 7 years since he played his first match for Team India. The left-arm off-spinner was supposed to play the series-opener but injured himself just before the game.
Axar, who becomes the 302nd player for India in red-ball cricket, was handed his Test cap by captain Virat Kohli just before the toss.
The skipper also announced the return of Kuldeep Yadav in the Test XI in place of Shahbaz Nadeem while he also announced that India have decided to rest fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah to manage his workload.
Kuldeep last played a Test against Australia in Sydney in January 2019. He has since been a part of the Test squad but only warmed the benches.
“Kuldeep Yadav replaces him. Nadeem makes way for Axar. Jasprit Bumrah has been rested for this game. We need to manage his work load. Mohammad Siraj comes in for him and he brings good variety.”
India lost the first Test by 227 runs and will be looking to come hard at England on a different pitch than what was used in the previous game at the MA Chidambaram stadium.
