Axar comes in for Jadeja
INDIA'S TOUR OF SRI LANKA Mumbai, India - India has brought in left-arm spin-bowling allrounder Axar Patel for the Pallekele Test, as a replacement for the suspended Ravindra Jadeja. The Test begins on August 12.
India has already won the three-match series, with victories in Galle and at the SSC.
He will be the third spinner in the squad behind off-spinner R Ashwin and left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav.
Axar is yet to make his debut in Test cricket, but has played 30 ODIs and seven T20 internationals. He has played 23 first-class matches and taken 79 wickets at 30.37. He just finished playing the ODI tri-series in South Africa with India A where he finished the team's third-highest wicket-taker with seven wickets in four games.
Jadeja was suspended at the end of the second Test for disciplinary issues; following an incident where he threw the ball at batsman Malinda Pushpakumara "in a dangerous manner" according to the on-field umpires. He was given three demerit points, taking his total to six demerit points inside a 24-month period which triggered a one-Test suspension. India squad: Virat Kohli (capt), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund.