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India vs England Test: Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels that head coach Gautam Gambhir is the one who has made the call of keeping left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav on the sidelines for the first four Tests against England. It is likely that Kuldeep will remain on the bench for the fifth Test as well and will fly back to India without making any appearance in a highly important series.
Manjrekar wants Shardul out of India's playing XI
Manjrekar wants Kuldeep to be a part of India's playing XI for the fifth Test that is set to commence from July 31 at The Oval. The former feels that there were many moments in the series where the left-arm spinner could have made the difference had he not been warming the bench. He further pointed out that Kuldeep can come in and replace Shardul Thakur from the XI as barring him, the Men in Blue still have two fine all-rounders in Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja.
"Sometimes you might think you get carried away with the batting form of batters because who could have thought that Washy could be a possible No. 5 in a Test match? And Jadeja as No. 6, almost batting like a pure batter. But India will have to start trusting their batting line-up despite Rishabh Pant not being a part of it. And Kuldeep Yadav will have to come back. There have been so many moments in this series where you would have imagined Kuldeep being part of the Indian bowling attack," Manjrekar said on ESPNCricinfo.
"We have talked about the moments when India could make a difference and win a game. And that's where Kuldeep Yadav could have been really handy. So, he comes in, and Shardul Thakur sits out. But here is what I am hearing. You might see Shardul Thakur playing, and this comes from people who know the Indian coach well. But for me, it [Kuldeep playing] is a no-brainer," he added.
Manjrekar further stated that he is not a big fan of Gambhir's approach of not giving any chance to a player in order to just prove his point. He once again expressed the need of having a quality bowler in the XI who can held the side in picking up all 20 wickets in a match, something that the Men in Blue have found incredibly hard to do.
"We will never know who is actually making the big calls of deciding the Playing XI. Is it the captain or the coach? The chairman of selectors also has an important say. But you have to say that Gautam Gambhir could be the one with the strongest voice to pick the Playing XI. Because we saw the same flavour in Australia. Sometimes, what happens is that when a selection backfires, you want to keep playing a player just to prove everyone wrong. I have never agreed with this approach of picking somebody for their second skill. If Shardul Thakur plays again, you would think that maybe he just puts in a performance like Washington Sundar. It's unfortunate that Kuldeep Yadav doesn't play," Manjrekar further stated.
Meanwhile, India head into the fifth and final Test against England, trailing the series by 2-1. Shubman Gill & Co. lost all their chances of winning the series after recording a draw in the fourth Test, however they can still manage to level it up if they win the upcoming match at The Oval. But, the hosts will definitely be the favourites to lift the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy as even a draw will see them triumph in the series.
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