Indian southpaw wrist-spinner, Kuldeep Yadav has been released from the Test squad for the 2nd match of the ongoing series against Sri Lanka, scheduled to be commencing on March 12. Kuldeep was named in the 18-man squad but he did not make it to the playing XI in the first Test in Mohali despite India deciding to go with playing 3 spinners.

Kuldeep Yadav was added to the Test squad along with Bihar left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar after Axar Patel was not available due to a shin injury that also kept him out of the white-ball series against Sri Lanka and the West Indies and the entire tour of South Africa.

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However, according to the sources of India Today in BCCI, Axar Patel has not attained match fitness and is likely to be added to the Test squad for the pink-ball fixture. Axar Patel last played against New Zealand at home last year. He picked up 9 wickets across 2 matches against the Black Caps before he picked up the injury.

It will be interesting to see if Axar will get a game in Bengaluru as India and Sri Lanka will look to make use of the conditions in the pink-ball Test. With R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja certain to start, India might look to beef up the pace attack for the 2nd Test.

India registered a dominating win by an innings and 222 runs against Sri Lanka in the first Test in Mohali as Rohit Sharma began his captaincy stint on a winning note. India rode on Ravindra Jadeja’s 175 and a spin-bowling masterclass from the all-rounder and R Ashwin to complete the victory inside 3 days.

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Indian squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shreyas Iyer, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Mayank Agarwal, Priyank Panchal, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Hanuma Vihari, Ravichandran Ashwin, Saurabh Kumar, Rishabh Pant, Srikar Bharat, Jayant Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami