Ishant Sharma set to replace Umesh Yadav, Dale Steyn ruled out for Bengaluru test

Ishant has been in scintillating form

After serving a one match suspension, Indian pacer Ishant Sharma is all set for a return to the test squad, replacing Umesh Yadav for the second test match on Saturday. He was handed a one match ban after an on-field incident with Sri Lankan batsman Dinesh Chandimal.

However, South Africa’s injury woes continue as Dale Steyn is yet to recover from his injury and will miss the second test. Another seamer Vernon Philander, who picked up an injury during training, will also miss the game.

India’s on-going training session at the Chinaswamy gave enough indication that Varun Aaron has the potential to pick up wickets. Hence, it became an obvious choice that he would go on to partner Ishant during the second test. Yadav, who played the first match, was seen mostly participating in fielding drills, rather than bowling in the nets, while Ishant was raking in the overs.

Ishant bowled to most of the batsmen, but specifically targeted Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay. The 27-year-old has been out of international cricket for close to two months now, but his domestic form has been top notch so far. He picked up nine wickets against Vidarbha and a couple against Haryana.

During the Haryana match, Ishant picked up a light hamstring injury which saw him miss rest of the match.

Meanwhile, South Africa is down to only one first team pacer in Morne Morkel, with both Steyn and Philander out of the match. A lot of responsibility will be on their spinners, who have to take the wicket-taking initiative.

When AB de Villiers was asked about Steyn’s fitness, he said, “He’s going to have a fitness test. So I’m not 100% sure. We are hoping for his return but we’ll see how he goes today and tomorrow.”

But it was confirmed today that Steyn will miss the second test match.