At the opening Test of the five-match series in Hyderabad, India lost to England by a score of 28 runs. In a thrilling game, the tourists came back from a 190-run deficit in the first inning to win. In the first Test match, India chose to field Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj alongside the spin combination of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel, whereas England fielded just one frontline pacer in Mark Wood and three spinners in Jack Leach, Tom Hartley, and Rehan Ahmed.
With six wickets from his 24.4 overs bowled in the encounter, Bumrah was a major contributor to the match. While Siraj, another seamer, was deployed for only four overs in the first inning and seven in the second, he failed to pick up a wicket in either try.
Mohammed Siraj was used sparingly, and former India wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel believed that India might have employed an extra batter in his place. This decision, he believed, would have given Kuldeep Yadav the opportunity to play ahead of Axar Patel and increased variety in the spin-bowling department.
“Three spinners are definitely sufficient, but I see things differently. During the test match, you have only utilized Siraj for six or seven overs. Prior to the Test match, Rohit Sharma claimed that Axar Patel’s batting skills allowed him to play ahead of Kuldeep Yadav. Parthiv told Jio Cinema, “You could choose Kuldeep over Axar if you need variety.”
Consider playing an additional pure batter if you are not using Mohammed Siraj much.
The additional batter will give the batting more depth, and you will have three different bowling options: Ashwin, Jadeja, and Kuldeep. And if you’re only going to give someone seven overs, there’s no purpose in even playing them,” he continued.
India will get an extra day after the first Test concludes in four days to evaluate their defeat and make plans for the second Test, which is scheduled to start on Friday, February 2, at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam.
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