Deep Dasgupta named Gurnoor Brar in his playing XI for the first Test against Sri Lanka and left out Prasidh Krishna as he named the starting lineup Shubman Gill and Gautam Gambhir should pick for the series opener, which will take place from Saturday (August 15) at the Galle International Stadium. Gurnoor will make his Test debut for the Indian team if he takes the field following his maiden ODI outing in June against Afghanistan.
Mohammed Siraj is expected to lead the pace attack and featured in Dasgupta’s playing XI too. The ex-wicketkeeper batter picked two pacers, Gurnoor and Siraj, in the squad while Prasidh was left out despite being a regular in the Test team.
“If there are two pacers, I feel Gurnoor and Siraj. Recently, Gurnoor went to Sri Lanka for the India-A series. That experience will help,” said Dasgupta in a video on his YouTube channel.
He picked three spinners, which included Kuldeep Yadav as well as two left-arm spin bowlers, who are also all-rounders in the form of veteran Ravindra Jadeja and rookie Manav Suthar.
Elsewhere, there were no major surprises as he picked Devdutt Padikkal in place of the injured Sai Sudharsan. On the same day that the latter was ruled out of the series, the former scored a century in the Indian team’s three-day practice game against Sri Lanka Cricket XI.
Apart from that, Dasgupta picked the same top six as the one that played in the one-off Test against Afghanistan in June at New Chandigarh, with both wicket-keeper batters Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel finding a spot in the batting unit.
Saranash Jain and Gurnoor are the two players in India’s squad that are yet to get their maiden Test cap. Meanwhile, the selectors are yet to confirm Sudharsan’s replacement.
Deep Dasgupta’s India’s XI in first Test against Sri Lanka: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj
Disclaimer: This article summarizes a report by Deep Dasgupta. While Times Now has verified the public data presented, the interpretations of ‘intent’ remain those of the creator. This content is for educational purposes and does not substitute professional medical/nutritional advice.