IND vs ENG: Fit-again Axar Patel available for selection in 2nd Test

Axar Patel has recovered from his knee injury and is now available for selection for the 2nd Test against England starting Saturday. The all-rounder had complained of pain in his left knee and was ruled out of the first Test.

The All-India Senior Selection Committee has now withdrawn Shahbaz Nadeem and Rahul Chahar from the main squad and added them back to the group of standby players.

Much needed boost for India

This comes as a piece of much-needed good news for team India who lost the opening Test by 227 runs. They missed an accurate left-arm spinner like Axar and with Ravindra Jadeja ruled out of the whole series, they will hope the Gujarat all-rounder fills his boots.

Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem was inconsistent in his lines throughout the first Test and the England batsmen feasted on it. It will be interesting to see if India picks Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI as the all-rounder in Axar can bat at seven. However, Washington Sundar will have to make way for the chinaman spinner. Sundar batted well in the first innings scoring an unbeaten 85 but looked ineffective with the ball.

India will have to win the 2nd Test at Chennai to stay alive in the World Test Championship. They will have to win the series at least by a margin of 2-1 to qualify for the final. Another loss means they will be knocked out of the race to the WTC finale.

India Test squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (Vice-Captain), KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Md. Siraj, Shardul Thakur

Standby players: K S Bharat, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shahbaz Nadeem, Rahul Chahar, Priyank Panchal

Net bowlers: Ankit Rajpoot, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, Krishnappa Gowtham, Saurabh Kumar