On the eve of the first ODI in Birmingham, former India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar had one plea for the team management: back Kuldeep Yadav and give him a run of games before next year’s World Cup.
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Cut to the toss in the series opener and India, led by Shubman Gill, benched Kuldeep Yadav and picked three all-rounders in their XI.
Surprising, and yet, not surprising at the same time.
The Indian team, under head coach Gautam Gambhir, has consistently preferred batting depth, often opting for all-rounders at the expense of quality in the bowling attack. That has been a recurring theme across all formats.
India picked Washington Sundar, Axar Patel and Shivam Dube in a six-man bowling attack, led by Jasprit Bumrah, for the series opener on Tuesday. There was no place for Kuldeep Yadav, one of India’s most attacking spinners, especially in overseas conditions.
INDIA XI: Shubman Gill (C), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, KL Rahul (WK), Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Gurnoor Brar, Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna.
Many expected Kuldeep Yadav to feature in the XI, especially after Axar Patel and Washington Sundar struggled in the recently concluded T20I series, which India lost 0-4. Incidentally, India dropped Washington for the final T20I on Saturday, and captain Shreyas Iyer did not hold back in his assessment of the Tamil Nadu all-rounder’s bowling performances.
Kuldeep, who was not part of the T20I squad, missed out as India opted for batting depth down to No. 8.
The absence of Hardik Pandya and Harshit Rana, both of whom add depth to the batting unit, further worked against Kuldeep’s chances.
Since the end of the 2023 ODI World Cup, Kuldeep Yadav has played six of India’s 10 ODIs in overseas conditions, while finger spinners Washington Sundar (eight) and Axar Patel (10) have featured more regularly. Across formats during the same period, Kuldeep has played only 11 matches, compared to Washington’s 26 and Axar’s 30.
NO X-FACTOR
Speaking to JioStar after Kuldeep was left out of the XI, Abhishek Nayar said India were sacrificing an X-factor bowler in favour of batting depth.
“You want batting depth, but not at the expense of taking wickets,” Nayar said.
“At the end of the day, you win games by picking up wickets. Anyone will tell you that. A team that reached the IPL final did so because it had a bowling attack capable of taking wickets. If your attack can’t do that, it doesn’t matter how much batting you have—you’ll struggle.
“In this line-up, you’ve got Prasidh Krishna, who can take wickets, and Jasprit Bumrah, who can take wickets. Gurnoor Brar is an unknown quantity at this level, and we’re hopeful he’ll do well.
“Beyond that, your other bowling options are more economical than attacking. Axar Patel picks up wickets when batters take risks against him, when the pitch offers assistance, or when they try to force the scoring rate.
“For me, having Kuldeep Yadav gives you that X-factor in the middle overs.”
India were bolstered by the return of Jasprit Bumrah, who was playing his first ODI since the 2023 World Cup final. India also picked Prasidh Krishna and Gurnoor Brar ahead of Arshdeep Singh, who was rested after heavy workloads during the T20I series. Gurnoor had impressed in his maiden ODI series against Afghanistan at home.
– Ends
