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Kuldeep Yadav’s continued omission from the Indian playing XI has been a persistent talking point. Known for his rich variations and wrist-spin prowess, his absence is increasingly seen as a positive for England. It has become a ritual — whenever England batters begin to build partnerships, Kuldeep’s name repeatedly comes up in discussions — of being a threat he’s perceived to be.
As England displayed grit and resilience against the Indian pace attack, the buzz outside the field at Lord’s was equally focused on Kuldeep’s absence from the playing XI. Among those surprised by the decision was former India wicketkeeper Farokh Engineer. “Truly, his variation could have worked like magic,” Engineer told CricBlogger on the opening day of the third Test at Lord’s.
“Even some of the former English players were shocked,” Engineer added while enjoying the third Test between India and England. “A few of them even asked me if Kuldeep was injured. They all know that England wouldn’t be able to negotiate his spin that easily.”
Though we are talking about Kuldeep bowling I will start on his batting .Sure many would have observed Kuldeep batting especially defense and grit improve a lot top notch whenever he has batted in Test Cricket in the few natches he has played .He has constantly improved .Sadly as Teams , coaches and captains and the nature of approach towards the game changing most of these factors are looking at balance of the side in terms of the extra ability in terms of fielding batting or bowling options a player offers .It is in this context that Washington Sundar for eg gets the choice over Kuldeep for obvious options in my view due to the mindset of balance or abilities with bat and ball both .Not doubting Kuldeep ability and especially as pointed out in this article and mentioned by English cricketers over Kuldeep exclusion and the danger he would pose , I would say as a strategy then if a Team is weak or perceived weak against spin especially against a left arm wrist leg spinner then you got to play this player in the first match itself to exactly gauge the approach , attitude , performance and weakness of the opposition against this spinner making it an easy choice going forward for the next matches based on actual performance .If somebody is really good and has to be played because of a speciality which can be particularly useful against an opposition don’t wait for the perfect wicket or performance of another player to be dropped / picked accordingly .Kuldeep would surely get his chance but that would be the wrong strategy to play him later because of wicket nature reasons rather than the weakness of the opposition in terms of approach mindset to play good quality left arm leg spin .It may also be a selection dilemma but it’s a good one overall .At the end only 11 players can play even though the 12th player may be as good as the 1st or 11th player .Keep working hard Kuldeep .The time will come to shine and shine brighter than before .
Kuldeep will certainly get his chance in this series. But it’s important that India must win the toss and ensure that England bat in the 4th innings for Kuldeep to be most effective.