After two batting collapses in the first game, India decided to play safe. For the second Test against England in Birmingham, they lengthened their batting line up. Shardul Thakur and B Sai Sudharsan were left out, while Jasprit Bumrah was rested.
Washington Sundar and Nitish Reddy, both all-rounders who can bat, replaced them. Akash Deep took Bumrah’s place. The Edgbaston pitch is expected to help spinners as the game goes on. So, it might have been wise to play Kuldeep Yadav, a spin bowler. But instead, India played Sundar who also bowls off-spin.
Many have said not playing Kuldeep who can take wickets was a bad idea. Former Indian player Dodda Ganesh criticized the team’s decision to play all-rounders in the line up.
Ganesh suggested Kuldeep should bat higher up in his domestic team. He thinks Kuldeep needs to score runs to make sure he gets a spot in the Test team.
“Kuldeep should bat in top 3 for Uttar Pradesh in #RanjiTrophy and get some runs, to be picked to play for India in tests. I don’t see any other way he can force his way back into this setup where one’s secondary skill dictates the team selection, he posted on X (previously Twitter).
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Sunil Gavaskar, a great batsman, was confused. He said Sundar or Reddy won’t be able to solve the problem if the top order doesn’t perform.
“I’m a little baffled that Kuldeep wasn’t picked, because on a pitch like this where everybody says there’s a little more turn, he said on Sony Sports. “If your top-order batsmen are not giving you the runs you expect, then Washington at seven or Nitish Reddy at eight won’t necessarily fix that, because those weren’t the batsmen who failed you in the first Test.
“You scored 830 runs. You didn’t score 380 in two innings – it was 830-plus. That’s a lot of runs. So, where you needed strengthening was in the wicket-taking department, not so much in the batting, he added.
