One of India’s greatest captains, Sourav Ganguly, has given his two bits on Kuldeep Yadav’s absence from the team. The left-arm wrist spinner has been England since early June but didn’t get a chance to play a single match. This was despite pitches being flat and even aiding spinners at all venues.
With Jasprit Bumrah sitting out, Kuldeep is perhaps India’s best wicket-taking option. Even after Shardul Thakur’s failure at Headingley, he was played at Old Trafford. The same goes for the third pacer. Prasidh Krishna and Anshul Kamboj have failed to take wickets or provide control. Yet, they have played 3 matches while Kuldeep has played none.
India missing the trick by not playing Kuldeep Yadav
Ganguly reckons the wrist spinner should have played at least 3 Test matches in the India vs England series. He thinks Kuldeep would have been a handful after the first two days when the pitch starts to offer turn and a rough is created. One can’t forget that Kuldeep can turn the ball both ways, testing batters on both edges.
“I wish Kuldeep had played in Manchester, Lord’s, and even in Birmingham. Without quality spin, you will find it hard to get teams out on day five of a Test. On a pitch that had a bit of rough and there was a bit of turn, there wasn’t a quality spinner,” Ganguly told reporters in Kolkata.
The former BCCI President cited the example of Shane Warne and Anil Kumble turning matches around with their spin. He hopes Kuldeep will be given the same opportunity to change the outcome of matches in India’s favour in the future.
“In the past, great sides have had great spinners—whether it’s (Shane) Warne, (Muttiah) Murali(tharan), (Graeme) Swann, (Monty) Panesar, (Anil) Kumble, Harbhajan (Singh), or (Ravichandran) Ashwin. Kuldeep is someone whom India will have to look at playing in the future,” Ganguly added.
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