CHENNAI: With less than two weeks to go for the first Test in Sri Lanka, India might have been handed a huge blow with Jasprit Bumrah's fitness. Though there is no official word on Bumrah's availability for the entirety of the tour, the speedster might reportedly miss the all-important red-ball series for India.
Having lost against South Africa at home, the Shubman Gill-led and Gautam Gambhir-coached side is under pressure to come out all guns blazing and win both matches in the Island nation to keep their World Test Championship hopes alive. And for that, Bumrah was always going to be crucial, especially with the series to be played with Kookaburra ball.
Now, with the speedster set to miss out due to knee injury, Gambhir and Gill will have to dig deep into their resources and hope Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna rise to the occasion. It also adds the pressure and expectation on the spin attack led by Ravindra Jadeja.
Focus on Kuldeep
Without Bumrah, the already-under-pressure Kuldeep Yadav and Jadeja will have to do the heavy-lifting with the ball while also hoping one of Saransh Jain and Manav Suthar come to the party. Kuldeep has been not just out of rhythm but also out of favour, barely playing in any of the matches outside India.
In fact, since former head coach Ravi Shastri declared that Kuldeep would be India's first-choice spinner following the Border Gavaskar Test win in Sydney 2019, the wrist spinner has played a solitary match outside India (versus Bangladesh in Chattogram, 2022). In the four years since, India have seen two different captaincy and coaching staff changes, played two matches in West Indies and South Africa, five in Australia, six in England and Kuldeep did not feature in any of them. Now, with Washington Sundar also set to miss the first match, the wrist spinner is a sure starter, but he will also be feeling the heat to not just take wickets but also show leadership skills with the ball.
Can specialists do the job?
Sri Lanka, with Prabath Jayasuriya, pose a significant spin threat themselves. And the tourists, especially under the current team management, have preferred to have as many all-rounders as they can in the playing XI. Here, they might be forced to trust the specialists to do the job.
India will be looking at their batting line-up — KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, B Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja — to do the job with the bat, and outperform their counterparts. In the last two home defeats, India's batting against spin was the real concern as Simon Harmer ran through them in Kolkata and Guwahati. It also remains to be seen how Gill, who is recovering from a neck injury himself, handles the pressure as a batter and captain.
