From frying pan to fire as India pick Patel

Rex Clementine in Mohali

Maybe Sri Lanka’s preparations and strategy ahead of their tour of India could have been better, but spare a thought for the batsmen when you imagine the quality of opposition’s attack.

Rohit Sharma had plenty of deadly weapons at his disposal.

There’s Jasprit Bumrah, the full package of a quality fast bowler rarely sending down a loosener and pinning down batsmen with his deadly yorkers. Mohammad Shami, the leader of the attack has both pace and gets movement and in Mohali was quite handy getting the old ball to reverse swing to deadly effect.

Ravichandran Ashwin with 436 Test scalps to his name has just gone past Kapil Dev’s tally of 434 wickets. He’s only behind Anil Kumble (619) and it’s only a matter of time before he goes onto become the highest wicket taker for India in Test cricket. Man of the Match in Mohali, Ravindra Jadeja backed up his 175 not out with nine wickets in the game. He’s on 241 Test wickets and by the end of this year would have overtaken Bishan Singh Bedi (266) as India’s most successful left-arm spinner.

The quartet of bowlers have 1004 wickets among them and no bowling attack in the world is as strong, penetrating and lethal as India’s.

The only weak link in the attack is Jayant Yasav, whose off-spin didn’t fetch him a wicket in Mohali. While Yadav provided the only breathing space for the Sri Lankans with the other four putting relentless pressure, Sri Lanka didn’t have many scoring opportunities.

The second Test in Bangalore could be tougher as India have named Axar Patel in the side. The 28-year-old left-arm orthodox spinner is returning from injury and replaced Kuldeep Yadav in the squad and it will be surprising if he doesn’t take the place of Jayant Yadav in the playing XI.

Unlike Yadav, Patel could bring further misery to the visitors as his brief Test career has been highly successful. He has featured in only five Tests but already has 36 wickets. His average is astonishing; 11:86 and that includes five five-wicket hauls.

Some may argue that India will look to play the additional seam option of Mohammad Siraj in Bangalore, which is a day-night game. But, the wicket at Chinnaswamy Stadium offers both turn and bounce and playing the extra spinner won’t be a bad idea.

Sri Lanka have a tough ask in Bangalore and the batting unit is thin on confidence. It needs a big effort from their captain Dimuth Karunaratne to overcome one of the toughest challenges they have faced in recent years.