Former Indian spinner Maninder Singh reckons India would have won Test series against England if they had played Kuldeep Yadav. The left-arm spinner was benched for all five Test matches, which surprised a lot of cricket experts.
India backed Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar as the two spinners in the series. Furthermore, Gautam Gambhir-led coaching staff wanted to have depth in their batting and thus backed all-rounders ahead of specialist bowlers.
Singh believes India picked a side, not to lose a Test match, and it would have been a different story if they had selected a team intending to win.
Kuldeep Yadav has scalped 56 wickets in 13 Test matches at an impressive average of 22.16. Against England, Kuldeep has bagged 21 wickets in six Test matches at an impressive average of 22.28.
“If they had played Kuldeep in the Test matches in England, India would have won the series 3-1,” Singh told India Today.
“Chasing 371 in the fourth innings, with the kind of bowlers you had, was always going to happen. But if you had Kuldeep Yadav in your side, I think in England we were selecting teams so that we don’t lose. If we were selecting the team to win, then Kuldeep Yadav would have played all five Test matches because there are not many of that breed in world cricket.
The former spinner reckons English batters won’t have had much idea about Kuldeep and they would have struggled against him.
“The English batters wouldn’t have known what he was doing. They wouldn’t have read his googlies or leg-spinners. In the first Test match, they chased 371. There was no chance if he was playing on the fourth evening and fifth day that England could have chased,” he added.
Singh also raised doubts about Kuldeep’s place in the playing XI for the upcoming Asia Cup.
“I doubt if they’re going to play Kuldeep Yadav if they’re going to play two spinners in the Asia Cup. It’s going to be Axar Patel because he can bat as well and Varun Chakravarthy,” he added.
India will begin their Asia Cup campaign against the UAE on September 10.
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