Former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin lashed out at captain Shubman Gill and coach Gautam Gambhir for leaving out Kuldeep Yadav from the playing XI in the IND vs AUS 1st ODI. The Men in Blue were handed a 7-wicket thrashing by Australia in the rain-hit tie in Perth on Sunday. India decided to go with three pacers and three all-rounders, leaving Kuldeep benched.
Why no Kuldeep Yadav in 1st ODI?
In a video on his YouTube channel, Ashwin claimed that the team shouldn’t be picked just to extend the batting. He said that it was the responsibility of the batters to score runs if the plan was to build the game around batting depth. The former Indian spinner stated that it was always best to play the team’s finest bowlers instead of benching them to have an additional batter in the playing XI. He added that despite having three all-rounders, India failed to field their best spinner Kuldeep Yadav.
“They will talk about this batting depth. But if you want to build your game around batting depth, then the batters have to take responsibility, right? It’s the job of the batters to score the runs. If you’re playing an extra batter, it’s again about shielding the batters. Play your best bowlers I’ll always say this play your best bowlers. Don’t pick a team just to extend your batting,” Ashwin said.
India’s playing XI in Perth was once again a reflection of Gambhir’s strategy to prefer all-rounders over specialist bowlers. As a result, Axar, Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy made it to the playing XI, leaving no space for Kuldeep in the line-up.
“I can understand why they’re playing two spinners in the game along with Nitish Reddy, they want the batting depth because both Washington and Axar can bat. But man, at least give some attention to the bowling too. On these big grounds, if Kuldeep can’t bowl with a lot of freedom, where will he bowl then? And there’s going to be over spin which will help him get bounce as well,” Ashwin said
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