India vs England: Axar Patel fit and available for selection for second Test in Chennai

Axar Patel has recovered completely and is now available for selection for the 2nd Test in Chennai against England to be played from Saturday, 13th February. The all-rounder had complained of pain in his left knee and was ruled out of the first Test.

The All-India Senior Selection Committee have now withdrawn Shahbaz Nadeem and Rahul Chahar from the main squad and added the duo back to the group of standby players.

Much needed boost for India

This comes as a much-needed good news for team India who lost the opening Test of the series by 227 runs. They missed an accurate left-arm spinner like Axar and with even Ravindra Jadeja ruled out of the whole series now, they will hope that the Gujarat all-rounder fills in his boots perfectly.

Shahbaz Nadeem, the left-arm spinner, was inconsistent in his lines throughout the first Test and England batsmen took toll of him as well. It will be interesting to see if India picks Kuldeep Yadav now in the playing XI as the all-rounder in Axar can bat at seven now. However, Washington Sundar will have to make way for the chinaman spinner. Sundar batted well in the first innings scoring an unbeaten 85 but looked ineffective with the ball.

The second Test is set to commence on February 13 in Chennai itself and India will have to win this game at any cost to stay alive in the World Test Championship. They will have to win the series at least by a margin of 2-1 to qualify for the final. Another loss would mean they will be knocked out of the race and Virat Kohli’s men will be well aware of it.

India Test squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (Vice-Captain), KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Md. Siraj, Shardul Thakur

Standby players: K S Bharat, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shahbaz Nadeem, Rahul Chahar, Priyank Panchal

Net Bowlers: Ankit Rajpoot, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, Krishnappa Gowtham, Saurabh Kumar