IND vs SL 2nd Test: Saransh Jain debuts as India bat first in Colombo; Kuldeep misses out
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "IND vs SL 2nd Test: Saransh Jain debuts as India bat first in Colombo; Kuldeep misses out")
IND vs SL 2nd Test: Saransh Jain debuts as India bat first in Colombo Photograph: (X/@BCCI)
India won the toss and elected to bat in the 2nd Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo. Off-spinner Saransh Jain makes his Test debut, replacing Kuldeep Yadav, while Sri Lanka hand debuts to Kamil Mishara and Pasindu Sooriyabandara.
Indian captain Shubman Gill won the toss and elected to bat first in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo. For India, off-spinner Saransh Jain will make his Test debut while Kuldeep Yadav has missed out on selection. Sri Lanka too made a couple of forced changes, including handing debuts to opener Kamil Mishara and an official one to Pasindu Sooriyabandara, who was brought in as a concussion substitute for Dinesh Chandimal in the previous Test.
Check out the playing XIs –
India - Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Saransh Jain, Manav Suthar, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna
Sri Lanka - Lahiru Udara, Kamil Mishara, Pasindu Sooriyabandara, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva(c), Sonal Dinusha, Niroshan Dickwella(w), Keshara Nuwantha, Prabath Jayasuriya, Lahiru Kumara and Asitha Fernando
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Here’s what the two captains said at the toss:
Shubman Gill (India captain) – “It looks like a much harder, much better surface compared to Galle. Galle was also a very good wicket, but I think as the game went on, it got a little bit slower and the ball started to turn. We're expecting the same, but I think for the first two or three days, I think it'll be a really good wicket to bat on.
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“Kuldeep, unfortunately, had some infections, so he misses out, and Saransh makes his debut for India.”
Dhananjaya de Silva (Sri Lanka captain) – “Yes, of course (on bowling first), as Shubman said, it's quite harder than Galle. I thought, yeah, it's good for batting, and I don't mind it bowling because, cloud covers, maybe we can strike early and put them under pressure.
“Yes, Kamil Mishara is debuting today, and yes, Pasindu is also playing today.”
No Kuldeep in Colombo Test
Amid growing speculations of Kuldeep falling out as the first-choice spinner across formats, especially in Tests, Gill confirmed that the unorthodox wicket-taker for India has been suffering from some infection and thus remained unavailable for selection.
In his place, India handed a debut to off-spinner Saransh, who will pair up with veteran Ravindra Jadeja and Manav Suthar, who picked up his maiden Test 10-wicket haul in Galle.
India won the series opener by 165 runs, aiming to beat Sri Lanka in the second Test and strengthen their WTC Final 2025-27 chances.
