Kuldeep Yadav to be ignored again! Gambhir-Gill duo to persist with Shardul Thakur for Oval Test

Once Ravichandran Ashwin retired from Tests, it looked like Kuldeep Yadav will take the mantle of spin bowling. But he's nowhere to be seen under Gambhir's Test setup.

During the fourth Test in Manchester, India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel mentioned that the management hasn’t been able to find a spot for Kuldeep Yadav due to the cushion they desire in the batting department. However, after a lacklustre bowling performance and workload management concerns over Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, it looked like a no-brainer for Gautam Gambhir and Shubman Gill to add an X-factor in their bowling through Kuldeep Yadav.

Kuldeep Yadav to be benched again

But, unfortunately, for the left-arm wrist-spinner, his long tour of England will go without any game time. Unlike previous reports that mentioned that India might play Kuldeep in the fifth Test, fresh developments have come in. According to CricBlogger, Team India is going to make three changes for the Oval Test but Kuldeep won’t be one of them.

Despite unfortunate injuries to Nitish Kumar Reddy, Akash Deep (groin niggle), and Arshdeep Singh (unavailable for 4th Test), India excluded Kuldeep from their plans. They flew in Anshul Kamboj, who had a poor debut and also brought in Shardul Thakur, who has been India’s most underused bowler.

What is India’s obsession with Thakur?

Clearly, Shubman Gill doesn’t have enough confidence in Thakur’s abilities yet still according to reports, including ESPNcricinfo, Thakur will play the Oval Test. The reason? Well, it is India’s obsession with extra batting. Thakur is perceived to provide more stability with the bat as compared to Kuldeep.

While Thakur may have come up with some decent knocks, you can’t expect a 50 from him everytime he bats. Also, after a terrific display of batsmanship shown by Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, the team should have faith in whatever batting resources they have not instead include a much more reliable bowling option, Kuldeep being a case in point.

In the three innings Thakur has bowled in, he has delivered just 27 overs, taking two wickets at 72.00. These are ordinary numbers for a player who is keeping Kuldeep out of the side. Many fans and pundits have frequently put forward their desire to see Kuldeep play. Dubbed as an X-factor spinner, Kuldeep could be a genuine wicket-taker, especially against the aggressive English batters. When England toured India in February 2024, Kuldeep starred with 19 wickets across eight innings.

India squad for Oval Test

Shubman Gill (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Kuldeep Yadav, Anshul Kamboj, Narayan Jagadeesan (wk).