Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif has opened up about India’s spin bowling options for the first Test of the two-match series against Sri Lanka, scheduled to start on Saturday, August 15, in Galle.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Kaif has asserted that he would love to see Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and one left-arm spinner between Saransh Jain and Manav Suthar in the playing XI, making it a three-spin attack.
Furthermore, the former batter reckoned that the Madhya Pradesh off-spinner Saransh, who received his maiden Test call-up, is expected to earn a place in the playing XI, thanks to his exceptional first-class record with both bat and ball.
“We have Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav, and one of Saransh Jain and Manav Suthar is likely to play. You would also want an off-spinner there because Sri Lanka has quite a few left-handed batters in the middle order. So, you would have one left-arm spinner, one left-arm wrist-spinner and one off-spinner, meaning you are covering all the different angles. That’s why I feel he (Saransh Jain) is slightly ahead in this match,” Kaif said on his YouTube channel.
“He (Saransh) can also contribute with the bat. If you look at his first-class batting record, it is excellent. He knows how to bat, and he also performed well in the warm-up game. If I am talking about covering all areas, you don’t necessarily need two left-arm spinners. You can give the ball to Jadeja, and he can bowl long spells. But if we are talking about variety, I feel he is slightly ahead,” he added.
India’s updated squad for the Test series against Sri Lanka: Shubman Gill (Captain), KL Rahul (Vice-Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Devdutt Padikkal, Saransh Jain, Auqib Nabi, Sarfaraz Khan
