After India’s team combination had a poor performance with the ball on Day 2 of the fourth Test match against England at Old Trafford in Manchester, former Indian cricketer R Ashwin criticised the squad.
Notably, India had to alter their starting lineup several times. Shardul Thakur replaced Nitish Kumar Reddy, who has been sidelined for the series due to a knee injury, and Anshul Kamboj received his first India call-up, taking the place of the injured Akash Deep. Ashwin stated that rather than relying on all-rounders to prioritise batting depth, India need to have chosen a specialist bowler to assist Jasprit Bumrah.
The former spinner said that Kuldeep Yadav would have been a perfect addition because his arrival would have given the Indian pacers, who have been carrying the majority of the weight during the tour, much-needed respite.
“You see, even though the No. 8 hitter might score 20–30 more runs, the tone of the Test match could shift if that player takes two or three wickets. Nitish Kumar Reddy is a top-six batsman and, while he is not yet Ben Stokes, he has skill in his bowling, so I’ll accept that the management’s choice to utilise him at Lord’s and Birmingham was a good one,” Ashwin posted on his YouTube account.
It was obvious to play Kuldeep Yadav when Nitish Kumar Reddy was removed from the starting lineup at number six. Your quick bowling assault is exhausting, and Siraj was exhausting. There have now been fifteen full days of cricket. Although Bumrah’s workload has been controlled, it remains a challenging task. India is seriously missing Kuldeep Yadav, and England leads the Test match. Bumrah cannot be run to the ground by Shubman Gill’s six-over or seven-over periods. Ashwin remarked, “I thought the spinners could have been rotated more effectively.”
Not seeing Kuldeep in the starting lineup surprised me: Ashwin
Ashwin went on to say that in Test cricket, collecting 20 wickets should always come first, regardless of batting depth or lower order contributions. He underlined that first-inning leads had become less meaningful due to the flat nature of English conditions.
“I would have been quite shocked if someone had informed me that Kuldeep Yadav would not be participating in any of the first four Test matches. Regretfully, we are obsessed with hitting and trying to score an extra 20–30 runs. The 20–30 run advantage is no longer available in England. You have an extra 60 runs if your No. 7 and No. 8 each score 30 runs. Because bowlers used to have assistance from the pitch, those sixty runs used to be really helpful, Ashwin remarked.
There was nothing else India could do to get a wicket: Ashwin
Since the batting lineup was already well-balanced, especially with Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja offering consistency in the lower middle order, Ashwin pointed out that adding Kuldeep would have helped India.
“You can expect 20–30 runs from Shardul Thakur if you just intend to give him this many overs. I really like Shardul Thakur, but why can’t you take Kuldeep Yadav into consideration if this is the main point? My head is being blown away by it. Jadeja is now a specialised batter for you, despite the fact that it may seem counterintuitive given the three spinners.
Additionally, Washington Sundar is batting effectively. Why don’t you bring an aggressive bowler when your bowlers can bat so well? After Jassi [Jasprit] bowled today, it appeared that India had run out of alternatives for taking a wicket,” Ashwin remarked.
It plays with a batter’s mind, but I’m not claiming that Kuldeep would have taken five wickets if he had been in action. He’s not picked by many of these men, so this was a fantastic chance. If he had been playing today, he would have at least taken one wicket,” he said.
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