Axar Patel will be replacing left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav in the India squad in the upcoming Test game against Sri Lanka, BCCI announced on Tuesday. The game will be played on Saturday in Bangalore. 

Axar Patel was forced to miss the entire South Africa tour and T20 series against West Indies as he was recovering from a shin injury. The bowler also tested positive for COVID-19 recently. 

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“The All-India Senior Selection Committee has added Axar Patel to India’s squad for the second Paytm Test to be played from 12-16th March in Bengaluru”, BCCI said in a statement on Tuesday.

“The all-rounder has completed his rehab and has been cleared by the BCCI Medical Team”, the statement added.

India successfully thrashed the Sri Lankan side in the first Test with an innings and 222 runs. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja headed India’s victory.

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Jadeja scored a total of 175 runs in the first innings and also managed to secure 9 wickets to seal the victory for India.

Ahead of the T20 series, the selection committee, headed by Chetan Sharma, decided to give Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant a break, while Shardul Thakur was rested for the entire Sri Lanka series. Meanwhile, Washington Sudar and KL Rahul were ruled out of the entire series.

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Chetan Sharma, the chairman of India’s Selection Committee said in a virtual press conference before the series started, “The selection committee deliberated a lot on Rahane and Pujara.”

“We told them we will not consider them against Sri Lanka but doors are open for them. We told them to go and play Ranji Trophy”, according to reports from PTI.