India’s batting coach Sudhanshu Kotak firmly dismissed the rumours around Kuldeep Yadav’s absence from the Colombo Test. The second World Test Championship Test between India and Sri Lanka is currently underway at the Sinhalese Cricket Club in Colombo. The opening game of the series saw the Indian team record a 165-run win over their counterparts and went up 1-0 in the two-game series. In the second game, the Indian team came up with a notable change in the playing squad, handing debut to Saransh Jain, replacing Yadav with him.
It was announced that Yadav was down with infections and hence was rested for the game. But considering his performance in the series opener, fans and experts speculated he was dropped from the squad. Notably the veteran spinner finished the Galle Test with one wicket, raising questions on his performances and form. However, Kotak has now firmly squashed the rumours stating that the left-arm spinner was genuinely down with viral fever and there was “no need to fake” an illness to drop him from playing XI.
He said, "I don't think that's a relevant question (on Kuldeep's fitness). If he is not fit, how will he think if he plays or not? When he left there (Galle), he was genuinely having viral (fever).” He went on to clarify that the 31-year-old was in no position to be in consideration for selection. "If the team needs a spinner and then he doesn't play, there is no need to fake that he wasn't keeping well. When the guy is not in position to play, there is no point thinking about whether he would have been fit or not. It would be very unfair to think that way,” Kotak added.
Sudhanshu Kotak Issues Update on Kuldeep Yadav’s Illness; Clarifies Reason for Saransh Jain’s Inclusion
Apart from it, the Saurashtra stalwart further shared an update about Yadav and suggested that he has progressed well from his illness. He went on to reveal that the presence of left-handers in the Lankan lineup prompted the management to hand debut to off-spinner Saransh Jain. "He has recovered reasonably well. He looked good when I met him in the (today) evening and, obviously, he wasn't available for the match (in the morning),” Kotak said.
"So, when it comes to whether we go with three fast bowlers or three spinners and then having four left-handers in (SL) top order, probably it makes sense to play an off spinner," he added. Talking about the game, the visiting team ended the opening day with 300-5 while declaring their innings at a mammoth total of 503 with the loss of nine wickets on the second day. Two batters, Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel recorded their Test tons.
