Why India must leave out Sarfaraz... again

Shubman Gill (c), KL Rahul (vc), Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Devdutt Padikkal, Saransh Jain, Auqib Nabi, Sarfaraz Khan.

There is little doubts over the selection of Jaiswal, vice-captain Rahul, captain Gill, Pant, Jadeja, or Siraj. That leaves five spots – Nos.3 and 6, two spinners, and the second fast bowler.

There are three options to fill the two empty batting slots – Padikkal, Jurel, and Sarfaraz. Of them, Jurel is the strongest candidate. Test XIs typically do not consider a backup wicketkeeper, but Pant has picked up injuries since his return to cricket. Jurel has kept wicket, sometimes while being part of the XI, sometimes as a substitute. India have shown inclination not only to back him but being flexible with him: in 16 Test innings, Jurel has batted at least twice at every position from No.4 to No.8. 

Padikkal’s unbeaten 142 in the tour game from No.3 should have sealed his position. Sarfaraz, a late replacement for the injured Sai Sudharsan, seems to be behind in the pecking order – at least for the No.3 slot. It is very unlikely that India will opt for the left-field option of Jurel at three (he has not batted there yet) and Sarfaraz at six.

Of the 496 Test wickets to have fallen at Galle in this decade, 391 have been to spinners. There is little doubt that India will go in with three spinners, and Jadeja will be one of them.

In most teams, Kuldeep would have been the second spinner – but the Indian team managements have been reluctant to pick him. He has played only 18 Tests across nine years, 14 of which have been at home and two more in Asia. Here, in conditions that will assist spin, India are very likely to back him.

For the third spinner, India have to choose between one-cap left-armer Suthar and uncapped off-spinner Jain. In the practice game, Suthar bowled ahead of Jain (usually an indication), who went wicketless. After an excellent debut and a brief but brilliant Warwickshire stint, Suthar seems set to start the series.

Despite two stupendous domestic seasons, Nabi is unlikely to get a Test cap here. This became evident when he was not asked to bowl in the first innings of the tour game. Ahead of the series, bowling coach Morne Morkel hinted at the same: “If you hit the deck hard here you are asking lots of questions on a good length, you’re always in the chance of picking up results ... We have to be street smart in terms of how we’re going to use the crease or how we’re going to use our short ball. We need to be able to do some of that quite quickly.”

Prasidh and the uncapped Brar both fit the bill of that brand of bowling. Six weeks ago, Brar had taken 10 wickets at the same venue to help India A defeat Sri Lanka A by 10 wickets. Tall and brisk, he can extract steep bounce – but then, so can Prasidh, who opened with Siraj in Bumrah’s absence against Afghanistan. The experince of bowling in various conditions will probably tilt the balance in Prasidh’s favour, though it is a close call.

Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (vc), Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Manav Suthar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.

Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.