Gujarat’s Patel qualifies as all-rounder and his ability to turn the ball away from right-handed batsmen may prompt the team management to pick him in the XI along with R Ashwin, the off-spinner, who will most likely play the first Test at his home ground, M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.
Off-spinner Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav, both of whom bring the ball into the right-hander batsman, are the other spinners in the Indian squad for the first two Tests.
There are seven right-handed batsmen out of 10 in the England squad for first two Tests. And three of the six bowlers can bat right-handed.
India don’t have a leg-spinner, so Axar becomes crucial with his left-arm spin.
“The advantage of having a left-arm spinner is that with the ball leaving the right-handed batsman, you have more chances of getting the batsman out,” former India left-arm spinner Maninder Singh told IANS.
Patel’s exploits at the top level have been in the limited-overs format, but how he would perform at the Test level…