'Washington or Nitish Reddy won't fix that': Sunil Gavaskar baffled with Kuldeep Yadav's absence in 2nd Test against England

Batting great Sunil Gavaskar isn't happy with Gautam Gambhir-led India's team management over Kuldeep Yadav's snub in second Test against England which started on July 2 at Edbaston, Birmingham.

Sunil Gavaskar on Kuldeep Yadav's snub in second Test against England

Amid growing uncertainty surrounding Jasprit Bumrah's availability for the second Test, cricket experts had widely supported the inclusion of Kuldeep Yadav. They emphasised the crucial need for a wicket-taking bowler within the Indian lineup, particularly after the less impactful performance of the other fast bowlers in the previous Test at Leeds. Despite these recommendations, the Indian team management opted not to select Kuldeep Yadav for the second Test which left Gavaskar disappointment.

"I'm a little baffled that Kuldeep wasn't picked, because on a pitch like this, where everybody says there's a little more turn," Gavaskar said while speaking on the Sony Sports Network.

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India did include a second spin bowler in their playing eleven, with Washington Sundar stepping in to replace Shardul Thakur. However, as captain Shubman Gill clarified during the toss, this decision was primarily driven by the need to strengthen the lower-order batting lineup. Their batting collapse in the first Test at Leeds, which ultimately led to a five-wicket defeat against England, was a key factor in this change.

Furthermore, to enhance both the batting and bowling capabilities of the team and to compensate for resting Jasprit Bumrah in Birmingham, India opted to include an additional fast-bowling option in the form of all-rounder Nitish Reddy. This selection came at the expense of Sai Sudharsan, who was omitted from the playing eleven.

Gavaskar strongly criticised both of these decisions. He said that batting was not a cause for concern for India, especially after they had amassed over 800 runs across both innings in Leeds. Instead, the 75-year-old argued that the team's primary need was for bowlers who could consistently take wickets.

"If your top-order batters are not giving you the runs you expect, then Washington at seven or Nitish Reddy at eight won't necessarily fix that, because those weren't the batters who failed you in the first Test. You scored 830 runs. You didn't score 380 in two innings — it was 830-plus. That's a lot of runs," Gavaskar concluded.

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However, it will be interesting to see whether Team India will miss Kuldeep Yadav's expertise in the second Test or not. After put to bat first, India were placed at 98/2 after 25 overs as of Lunch on Day 1.

India's Playing XI:

Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Shubman Gill(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

England's Playing XI:

Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes(c), Jamie Smith(w), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir