India recorded a five-wicket defeat against England in the first Test of the five-match series held at Headingley. Though the Men in Blue dominated for the most part with the bat, it was their bowling department which let them down. After setting up a target of 371 during the final session of Day 4, the hosts would go on to achieve it rather comfortably on the final day, taking a 1-0 lead in the series.
India only selected one spinner in the playing XI for the first Test
Other than Jasprit Bumrah, no other Indian bowler was able to constantly cause problems for the England batters and ended up underperforming big time. For the first Test, India included just one spinner in the playing XI, Ravindra Jadeja. However, the left-armer wasn't able to impress much and was only able to take one wicket throughout the match.
Following a poor bowling display in Leeds, former Australia captain Michael Clarke believes that left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav undoubtedly should be included in India's playing XI for the second Test that is set to commence from July 2 at Edgbaston. He added that if India need to win against England, then taking all the 20 wickets is highly important..
"Bowling-wise, I do not want to be hard on any individual, but I think they’ve got to play Kuldeep Yadav. I think it is an absolute no-brainer. I think he’s a wicket-taker and would have offered a lot more than what he saw the attack do in this Test," Clarke said on the Beyond23 Podcast.
“India have done this for a while. They care so much about extra batting or stacking the batting deep, and they are willing to risk picking the number one spinner to do that. I think to win in England, you’ve got to look to pick 20 wickets," he added.
Clarke also stated that the likes of Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur have to step up as Jasprit Bumrah won't be able to carry the bowling department on his shoulders every time. Though the trio did get a handful of wickets during the first Test, they weren't able to maintain any sort of pressure on the England batters and bowled countless loose deliveries.
“Bumrah’s a star, he’s leading that attack. But the other three pacers, yes, at stages bowled well, but they need to find more ways of taking wickets, more options and their execution has probably got to be better," Clarke stated.
“Jadeja didn’t have the impact that I thought he might have. Particularly in the second innings, I thought there was a lot of rough to the left-hander. I thought he bowled a little bit straight," he added.
It remains to be seen what changes do Gautam Gambhir & Co. make to India's playing XI for the second Test in Birmingham. The match will be quite crucial for the Men in Blue as if they end up recording a second consecutive defeat against the Three Lions, then it will become a mountain task for them to make a comeback in the series.