Nostalgia may have enveloped Sairaj Bahutule when he entered the SSC Ground. He would have remembered his last Test played at the same venue in 2001, a game India lost. The Indian spin-bowling coach, though, quickly immersed himself in the nets here Friday (August 21, 2026).

Later, near the dugout, he spoke to the media about the twirly men under his watch. Many questions centred around Kuldeep Yadav, a fine talent but seemingly rusty at the moment.

“Kuldeep has been bowling extremely well. It’s just that due to the situation that arose in Galle, he had to play a different role. He tried his best to execute that role,” Bahutule said.

Getting more technical in his analysis, the spin-coach added, “We had to see how the trajectory and the speeds work in every session. As the days went by, there was a demand for different types of speeds and trajectories; he definitely was making an effort to bowl that.”

Turning his eye towards Manav Suthar, Bahutule said, “He is somebody who has bowled a lot in domestic cricket and has done the hard yards. He understands his bowling well. What we try to do is to see how that awareness of bowling gets better in different conditions, on different pitches, and against different batters. He is very accurate, and his trajectories are getting better. He puts in a lot on the ball, the revolutions are good and he is somebody who is like a banker for us.”

Bahutule also spoke about the essential nature of ideal preparation. “It’s very difficult for a player sometimes to adjust to different formats. But I think what we did coming early on this tour was — in that warm-up game and in the open net sessions — we trained well and got to understand the conditions and could adapt to them. The amount of cricket being played is quite a bit, but our job as coaches is to manage their minds and help them adapt,” he said.

Saransh in the fray

With Sri Lanka adding left-handed batters to the squad, the temptation to play off-spinner Saransh Jain is real, and Bahutule did not deny that.

“There is another day to go before the Test. We will have a look at the pitch and understand what will be the need. Yes, the (left-handed) additions are there in their team. We will definitely consider him (Saransh Jain) once the pitch is completely ready to play,” he said.

The speculation over Kuldeep’s berth in the playing eleven lingered, and when another question was raised, Bahutule said, “He has been a fabulous bowler over the years. Yes, the pitches sometimes are slow, and sometimes the ball operates differently for the spinners on certain surfaces. But for me, he has always been a match winner, and he definitely is in the scheme of things. When the ball becomes softer, it becomes even more difficult for a wrist-spinner like him.”