After warming the bench for the first four matches of the series, Kuldeep Yadav looks set to play in the India vs England 5th Test. The left-arm wrist-spinner has missed out as the Indian management has opted for batting depth and played the likes of Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Shardul Thakur, who were preferred.
Kuldeep Yadav in, Shardul Thakur out
However, that might change. Nitish has already been ruled out of the series. Shardul replaced him in Manchester, but his returns were slim. He bowled just 11 of the 157.1 overs, and it seemed like captain Shubman Gill didn’t trust him enough to be consistent or create trouble for the batters.
According to CricBlogger, Kuldeep will be named in India’s Playing XI for the Oval Test, and he’ll replace Shardul. The pitch at the venue has been batting-friendly in the last few years, and spinners have found success. This boosts the case for Kuldeep, as Ravindra Jadeja’s returns have been slim with the ball in hand. Kuldeep hasn’t played a Test match in over 9 months but would be waiting to pounce on the opportunity.
Proper déjà vu as Akash Deep replaces Bumrah
At Edgbaston, Team India rested Jasprit Bumrah and brought in Akash Deep as his replacement. The same will happen at the Oval. Bumrah didn’t seem near his best in Manchester. His speeds were down by a lot. Even his accuracy wasn’t up to his regular standards.
He seemed tired at times, had issues with the footholds, and even tripped on the stairs, which hurt his ankle. Given he’s already played the pre-decided 3 Test matches, it’ll be unlikely Bumrah will play the last match of the series. Akash will come in for him.
Akash was ruled out of the 4th Test with a groin injury, but it seems like he has regained full fitness now. He was the third preferred, so Akash replacing Bumrah over Prasidh Krishna or Arshdeep Singh makes absolute sense.
India squad for Oval Test
Shubman Gill (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Kuldeep Yadav, Anshul Kamboj, Narayan Jagadeesan (wk).
