KL, Jadeja's injuries put hosts in trouble ahead of the Vizag test vs ENG

Untimely injuries to KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja have put India into trouble as they seek to bounce back after facing defeat in the first testKL and Jadeja both were the main performers from the hosts side in the first innings before England fired backKL has complained about the pain in his right quadriceps whereas Jadeja faced a hamstring injuryThe unavailability of the duo has put India in tremendous trouble Jadejas allround abilities make him almost irreplaceable in the squad and KL is also a standout batsman for Team India since his return after the surgeryAlso ReadIndias Divya Deshmukh alleges sexism in Wijk Aan ZeeStar batsman Virat Kohli will continue to miss the second test match as he opted out due to personal reasons The defeat in the first game will make the management miss the services of the star Indian batsman even more India will now clash with England on Friday in VisakhapatnamSarfaraz Khan Sourabh Kumar and Washington Sundar are named as the replacement players by the Indian teamA straightforward selection will be Rajat Patidar who was also a part of the 15 in Hyderabad He could take Rahuls place in the middleorder with Kuldeep Yadav replacing Jadeja as the third spinner alongside R Ashwin and Axar PatelAnother option for India is to do what England did in the opener play only one pacer for four spin choices In that case Mohammed Siraj could make way for Kuldeep and the team can accommodate either Sarfaraz Khan or Washington to solidify the middleorderAlso Read Deepti Sharma shares second spot with Pakistans Sadia Iqbal among bowlers in T20I rankingsSourabh who also bowls leftarm spin like Jadeja and is a decent batter with a couple of firstclass hundreds to his name can be a dark horse in that raceBatting first at the venue back in 2019 India had racked up 502 in the first innings against South Africa with Mayank Agarwal getting a double hundred and Rohit scoring a brisk 176 in his first innings as a Test opener Spin legend Anil Kumble feels wrist spinner Kuldeeps presence in the eleven will be helpfulIf India feel that they need only one fast bowler then having Kuldeep will certainly help He will have variations but England will come and do the same things they did in Hyderabad Kumble told the host broadcasterThe wicket could be a turning one and we are expecting the pace to be quicker than this This was slow but it was a good wicket if you applied yourself India certainly need to buckle up with their approach to playing against spinI also felt that they were certainly rattled by the way England approached their batting and with that they have to come up with plans some unconventional ones They never tried any variations so thats something I am sure they will be looking to do he said referring to the spin trio being put under pressure with Englands relentless sweeping tacticHaving shown plenty of promise in his fourTest career lefthanded batter Washington who bowls righthand offspin also makes a strong case for selectionSince making his debut in the iconic Test win at the Gabba he featured in three games in the previous home series against England in 2021Washington managed an 85 not out and 96 not out in five innings over the course of that series and picked up two wickets in a rubber dominated by frontline spinners Ashwin and AxarFormer selector Sarandeep Singh during whose tenure Washington made his debut Down Under said the allrounder is a utility player but he would not want to tinker too much with the playing elevenIt is pretty simple for me Rajat Patidar comes in for Rahul and Kuldeep comes in for Jadeja We dont need to copy England and play four spinners Playing with two pacers and three spinners has been our strength at home We need to stick to it said the former India spinnerHowever he reckons it would be better for the teams cause if Rohit drops himself to number 3 and an underfire Shubman Gill opens the innings alongside Yashasvi JaiswalShubman Gill who wants to bat at the number three spot has not been very successful in replicating his whiteball form in the purest form of the game Gill is not a number three player He should open Rohit is one of the best players of spin and can drop down to accommodate Gill at the top Sarandeep addedFormer India opener Wasim Jaffer also expressed similar views Gill and Jaiswal should open and Rohit should bat at no3 in 2nd test in my opinion Waiting to bat for his turn isnt helping Shubman its better he opens the inn Rohit plays spin really well so batting at no3 should not worry him too much Jaffer posted on XWith PTI Inputs