Kuldeep Yadav has been a major talking point in the ongoing Test series against England. The Indian spinner, who was ignored for the first four Tests, was once again omitted from the fifth Test, that started on Thursday at the Oval in London. The left-arm chinaman thus became one of the three Indians to not get a game in the series, with Arshdeep Singh and Abhimanyu Easwaran being the other two.
The exclusion of Kuldeep, a genuine wicket-taker, has left many baffled including former cricketers and fans. With no Jasprit Bumrah in the fifth Test due to workload management, Kuldeep could have used a genuine wicket-taker with his ability to give breakthroughs and offer something different from traditional spin.
Among the former cricketers was Mohammed Kaif, who felt that India could have benefitted by including Kuldeep in the playing XI. “The theory of picking 8 batsmen and leaving out Kuldeep Yadav doesn’t make sense in this Test. We need a win to make it 2-2,” Kaif wrote on X on Wednesday.
“We need 20 wickets. All-rounder nahi genuine wicket-taker chahiye,” added Kaif. Instead, India went in with a three-man pacer attack consisting Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj and two spin-bowling all-rounders – Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar. For the unversed, both Jadeja and Sundar struck hundreds in the fourth Test to save India in Manchester.
Was leaving Kuldeep Yadav out wise?
Meanwhile, the Indian management were right in resting Kuldeep in the fifth Test if statistics are to be believed. According to a TOI report, a total of 22 first-class matches have been played at The Oval in London since 2023 with seamers bearing most of the fruit at this venue.
While the fast bowlers took 617 wickets in those game, spinners accounted for just 79. In the ongoing season, spinners have managed just 19 wickets out of 150 at this venue. Kuldeep’s only Test match on English soil came at Lord’s in 2018 which India.
England vs India 5th Test playing XIs
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton, Josh Tongue
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel(w), Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj
