Overview:
Gautam Gambhir, the head coach of the visiting team, had stated that players wouldn't be dropped after a few failures, but he couldn't keep his word for even two games.
Ravi Shastri has reacted to Team India’s decision to drop Sai Sudharsan for the second Test against England. The southpaw, who made his debut in Leeds, was shown the door after scoring 0 and 30 across two innings in a contest that India lost by 5 wickets. Gautam Gambhir, the head coach of the visiting team, had stated that players wouldn’t be dropped after a few failures, but he couldn’t keep his word for even two games.
Sai was included in the squad for the five-match Test series against England after his magnificent run in first-class cricket and the Indian Premier League. However, he didn’t look settled during his stay in the middle during the series opener and was easily undone by English bowlers. Karun Nair took his No.3 spot, with India making three changes. Jasprit Bumrah was rested while all-rounder Shardul Thakur was given his marching orders. Nitish Kumar Reddy, Akash Deep, and Washington Sundar replaced the trio.
“Tough call. Sai Sudharsan looked good in the second innings of the opening game. I think India wanted to add more firepower to the batting unit,” he said.
Meanwhile, England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and invited the Shubman Gill-led team to bat first. KL Rahul managed just 2 runs while Karun Nair posted 31. Yashasvi Jaiswal slammed another fifty-plus score in the ongoing assignment.