Not playing Kuldeep Yadav is a safe decision: Michael Vaughan

The Indian team management made three changes to their playing XI for the second Test in the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, and Sai Sudharsan made way for Akash Deep, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Washington Sundar. However, Kuldeep Yadav failed to make the cut once again.

Fans and experts had been urging the Indian team to play the left-arm wrist spinner in the second Test, which got underway at Edgbaston, Birmingham, on Wednesday, July 3, especially after Ravindra Jadeja’s dismal returns in the series opener. However, Shubman Gill mentioned at the toss that he wanted more cover in the batting department. While Sundar coming in to bat at No. 8 gives the tourists a lot of depth in the batting department, Kuldeep’s addition could have added a different and more aggressive dimension to their bowling unit.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan feels that India played it safe by leaving out Kuldeep, who he believes could have easily taken six-seven wickets in the Edgbaston Test, especially considering the dry nature of the surface.

“Not playing Kuldeep is a safe decision. They’ve not picked what I believe is a bowler that could easily get 6 or 7 wickets in a Test match. You have to get 20. The pitch is pretty dry. Surely you have to play a leg-spinner. I think India gone for a safe selection,” he said on Sony Sports Network.

Vaughan mentioned that the batting wasn’t the reason why India lost the first Test at Headingley, Leeds. Instead of beefing up the batting resources and playing it safe, the cricketer-turned-expert opined that India should have taken the bull by the horns and gone in with Kuldeep.

“When a team goes behind and starts losing you start selecting for safe. The only way to get out of that losing streak is to go for it and take risks. I think this is a very very safe selection. It might work and they might bat great. It’s not the batting that was the problem at Headingley,” he added.

England won the toss on Wednesday and opted to bowl first. Chris Woakes bowled brilliantly and bagged a couple of wickets, while Shubman scored a magnificent century. Yashasvi Jaiswal also made a stroke-filled 87 as India finished on 310/5 at Stumps. Shubman and Jadeja are batting on 114 and 41, respectively.