As the second Test against Sri Lanka approaches, starting Sunday at the SSC Ground, former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has commented on potential changes to the team’s bowling lineup. He indicated that the management’s consideration to replace left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav with an off-spinner is a reasonable strategy. This decision comes in light of Sri Lanka’s significant number of left-handed batsmen, which could influence the effectiveness of the spin attack.
Analysis of Sri Lanka’s scoring in the first Test at Galle, where they lost to India by 165 runs, shows their four main left-handers made 300 of the 465 runs scored across both innings – which is roughly 64.5 per cent of the team’s overall runs.
In contrast, India fielded three left-arm spinners in their XI, with Kuldeep returning modest match figures of 1-103 from 25 overs. Because that will just make the spin combination a little better, “If India play an off-spinner in place of Kuldeep Yadav, it’s understandable.
“So if there’s an off-spinner that comes in and a left-arm spinner is left out, it will just make the Indian spin attack a little more potent because there will be variety, and an off-spinner in Test matches with DRS and everything is almost like something that you need in a team,” he added. With off-spin bowling all-rounder Saransh Jain in the squad, it means the Indian team can hand him a debut if the pitch in Colombo is too dry. In the last Test, three spinners bowling with the left arm proved to be a little bit of a problem when two left-handers got together, and we saw left-handers get runs against India in the first Test,” Manjrekar said in a video posted on his Instagram account on Saturday.
