Fitness issues with young leg-spinner Karn Sharma might be a reason why Mishra got a chance to be a part of the squad, for the three-match Test series, starting August 12. Virat Kohli will resume his captaincy as most of the senior batsmen, who were rested for the Zimbabwe series, have made a return to the Test squad. Mishra, 32, last played a Test in 2011 during the tour of England. “I am able to analyse the wickets better, and my thought process too has changed as I look to out-think the batsmen”, said Mishra, who has so far played in 13 Tests.
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“The current Indian team has hardly played any Test in the sub-continent over the last two years”. The Indian captain, who had an unassuming excursion against Bangladesh, decided to play the four-day match as a tune-up to his first full series as a captain of the Test side. Patil said that pragyan ojha is also chosen for selection for Sri Lanka. “Looking at the conditions we have given preference to Mishra”, Patil said, adding Karn Sharma and seamer Mohammed Shami had not recovered from their respective injuries, which was why “their names were not discussed”. “We have a standby wicketkeeper we have nominated”, Patil said. He has always supported me, and I’m sure he will continue supporting me when we go there.
“It will be a tough tour, the Sri Lankan players, whoever is there, they are good against spin, and the pitches are good for batting”.
The squad includes four seamers in Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron to perform on wickets that usually assist early bounce and seam movement.
If IPL performances are to be considered, Mishra averages just over 23 for his 111 wickets off 98 matches.
Sehwag, here on a promotional visit, said that the series is likely to be an interesting affair and voiced his confidence in the Virat Kohli-led Indian team’s abilities. We are very happy with the kind of performances, they have delivered.
Galle (Aug 12-16) will host the first Test while Colombo (Aug 20-24 and August 28-Sep 2) will stage the two other matches.
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India’s Test squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Ishant Sharma.
