The Indian team management’s decision to exclude Kuldeep Yadav from the playing XI for the second Test match against England at Edgbaston, Birmingham, which began on Wednesday, July 2, was questioned by Sunil Gavaskar.
Kuldeep Yadav was expected to participate in the second Test for a few reasons, according to different reports.
Ravindra Jadeja’s inability to penetrate during the first Test was one of them. The second explanation, however, was that the Edgbaston track would be more beneficial to the spinners, particularly given the warm weather that Birmingham was predicted to have over the week.
To strengthen the batting attack, Shubman Gill stated during the toss that they considered including Kuldeep in the squad but ultimately opted against it. All-rounder Washington Sundar was selected for the playing XI in place of Kuldeep.
Gavaskar stated on Sony Sports Network, “I’m a little baffled that Kuldeep Yadav wasn’t picked, because on a pitch like this, where everybody says there’s a little more turn.”
In addition to Sundar, Akash Deep and Nitish Kumar Reddy have joined the team. Shardul Thakur and Sai Sudharsan were excluded, and Jasprit Bumrah was given a break.
The area where you wanted to improve was in taking wickets: Sunil Gavaskar
The Indian batsmen performed admirably in the first Test, scoring 835 runs in two innings, according to Gavaskar. The bowlers were unable to claim all 20 England wickets, though. The former captain of India believed that India should have given themselves the best chance of getting 20 wickets rather than selecting so many all-rounders to support the batting.
“Nitish Reddy at 8 or Washington at 7 won’t necessarily solve the problem if your top-order hitters aren’t producing the runs you want because those weren’t the players that let you down in the first Test. You made 830 runs. You scored more than 830 runs in two innings, not 380. He said, “That’s a lot of runs.”
Gavaskar came to the conclusion that “you needed strengthening in the wicket-taking department, not so much in the batting department.”
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