India vs Sri Lanka 2nd Test Match Team India: The Indian team management has released Kuldeep Yadav from the Test team. According to the report of Cricbuzz, this decision has been taken after Akshar Patel achieved full fitness. This left-arm spinner has joined the Indian team in Mohali itself. Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has also decided about Team India’s jersey.
Although Kuldeep was not originally picked as Axar’s back-up, the team management believes there is no need for three left-arm spinners, with Ravindra Jadeja also part of the squad. Apart from this, there are two more spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Jayant Yadav in the 18-member team. Kuldeep last played a Test in February 2021.
At the time of the squad’s announcement on 22 February, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had stated that Axar Patel is currently in his rehab phase and is not available for selection for the first Test. They will be evaluated later. Their selection for the second test will be considered later.
However, a BCCI source said, “Akshar was the first choice but he was not fully fit so Kuldeep was kept as a backup. Now that the characters are fit, Kuldeep has been released. Axar Patel, who hails from Ahmedabad, has not been in action since the Test match against New Zealand in Mumbai in December last year.
Akshar Patel South Africa could not go on tour due to injury and also missed the T20 series against West Indies. He had also recently become corona positive. The first Test match was played between India and Sri Lanka in Mohali itself, which ended on Sunday i.e. 6 March 2022. India won the Mohali Test by an innings and 222 runs. The second and final Test is to be played in Bengaluru from March 13.
On the other hand, BCCI has retained BYJU as the sponsor of Team India’s jersey. Recently BCCI’s Apex Council approved an extension with Bangalore-based multinational educational tech company, otherwise the BYJU deal would have ended after the ongoing series against Sri Lanka.
Aware of the decisions of the Apex Council’s recent meeting BCCI Several members of the U.S. told Cricbuzz, the agreement has been renewed for another year. It was ending after the current series. BYJU joined as the jersey sponsor after replacing Chinese handset company Oppo. The deal started from September 2019.