Saransh Jain made his India Test debut in Colombo becoming the oldest to do in 21st century.
One of the most notable changes was Saransh Jain making his India Test debut in place of Kuldeep Yadav. Shubman Gill revealed that Saransh had replaced Kuldeep, who was unavailable for selection due to an infection.
"Kuldeep, unfortunately, had some infections, so he misses out, and Saransh makes his debut for India," Gill said at the toss.
Even the BCCI confirmed the same on social media and revealed that Kuldeep would be available as a concussion substitute if required.
Sitanshu Kotak, the batting coach for India, stressed that Kuldeep's absence was only due to illness and denied any broader fitness issues with the spinner.
“I don’t think that is a relevant question (on whether Kuldeep would have played if he were fully fit). Because if he is not fit, how will he think if he plays or not? And genuinely, he had a viral when we left Galle. Because it’s not like that. If the team needs an off-spinner and he doesn’t play, there is no need to say he wasn’t well. But when the guy is not in a position to play, there is no point in thinking about whether he is fit or not. It would be very unfair to think that,” Kotak told reporters on Sunday.
Kotak went on to say that even though Kuldeep had made a full recovery since leaving Galle, his absence also had an impact on India's lineup, as the visitors chose to use an off-spinner against a Sri Lankan top order that had four left-handers.
“When we left, he had a sore throat and then a virus. I think he has recovered reasonably well. He looked good when I met him in the evening, and so obviously he wasn’t available for the match. So then it comes to whether we go with three fast bowlers or three spinners. And with them having four left-handers in the top order, it probably makes sense to play an off-spinner,” he added.
Devdutt Padikkal, who scored his second consecutive Test century, received a lot of plaudits from Kotak, who claimed that he had taken full use of the opportunity presented by Sai Sudharsan's absence.
“I think Devdutt again batted really well. Shown great temperament. He made the most out of the opportunity he got. So, really happy for him. For me, the intent is on, the temperament is on, and with the pace he batted at as well, he batted with a very good strike rate. So, the way he batted is a really, really good sign for us. And, like I said last time when I came as well, he has been waiting for his turn for the last year, year and a half, or maybe two years. I am so happy with the way he prepared when he got that opportunity; because Sai had an injury, he made the most out of it. So, really happy for him,” Kotak said.
On whether Padikkal had made the No. 3 position his own, Kotak pointed to Sudharsan’s impressive returns before injury ruled him out.
“I think he batted really well at number three. But I feel Sai Sudharsan batted really well at number three. He got out on 90 and 85 or something like that. But Devdutt obviously converted into hundreds. Both are young batters, and they batted well. So they can open; they can also go at three. The way Devdutt bats, in the past he could bat at five also. So it’s not—it's more promising for us, the way he approached the game, and he delivered when the team needed him to play and score runs.
So that’s a big positive. Number three, obviously, he is batting well, and he may continue at that number. But for me, that is not something that is very exciting—that at number three he has scored runs, he added.
India ended day one on 300/5, with Devdutt Padikkal scoring 117, Shubman Gill making 50, and Yashasvi Jaiswal making 45 runs. Asith Fernando was the pick of Sri Lankan bowlers, with figures of 3/46.
(PTI inputs)