Bring Kuldeep Yadav in for Shardul Thakur in second Test: Sunil Gavaskar

The legendary Sunil Gavaskar stated that India should look to bring in Kuldeep Yadav into the side for the second Test against England at Edgbaston, Birmingham in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. India opted to go in with only one spinner in Ravindra Jadeja in the first Test. However, the move didn’t pay dividends as the Saurashtra all-rounder picked up a solitary wicket in the Test match after bowling 47 overs.

It is all but confirmed that Jasprit Bumrah will not play all five Tests on the tour as the team management wants to manage his workload. Gavaskar feels that Kuldeep should be included in the playing XI at Edgbaston, irrespective of whether Bumrah participates in the second Test or not. The former India captain stated that the wrist spinner might get some assistance from the surface in Birmingham and mentioned that Shardul Thakur might be the one to make way for the Uttar Pradesh spinner.

“Whether Jasprit Bumrah is fit or not, I think Kuldeep Yadav has to come into the team. I do believe that he should come into the team for Shardul Thakur because the Birmingham pitch will be one where there will be just a little bit of help for the wrist spinner,” Gavaskar commented in the post-match show.

Gavaskar also suggested that India could look to bring in Washington Sundar into the lineup in place of either Sai Sudharsan or Karun Nair if one of the two batters fails to perform in the second Test.

“If things don’t go well in the second Test, maybe Sai (Sudharsan) and Karun (Nair). I don’t want to drop them at the moment. Then I’d also look at Washington (Sundar), so that it really gives you a more solid batting, and also get a little more variety as far the bowling is concerned,” he commented.

Coming to the first Test, England chased down a 371-run target on Day 5 on the back of Ben Duckett’s blistering century. Zak Crawley and Joe Root also scored important half-centuries, and Ben Stokes and Jamie Smith also came up with crucial contributions to orchestrate a famous win for the Three Lions.