Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar lashed out at head coach Gautam Gambhir for picking all-rounders like Shardul Thakur over left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI for fourth Test despite the Men in Blue's inability of picking all 20 wickets in a Test. Even though Kuldeep has a good record in Tests, he hasn't been given a single chance to play in the England series so far and has spent all his time sitting on the sidelines.
Manjrekar feels that the team selection in the series so far has been 'poor' and even called out the team management for needlessly playing multiple all-rounders rather over performing players.
Manjrekar questioned Team India's selection in England Tests
"What is coming through for everyone, despite India's heroism with the bat, is that the selections have been quite poor. We saw what Shardul Thakur was capable of in the first Test match, but despite that, he was picked again. And we saw the repeat of that inclination to have a bowler who can bat a bit. I think that thought has to be dumped, and India in this Test match needed a pure batter," Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo after Day 4.
Kuldeep last played a Test match for India in October, 2024 against New Zealand. Despite making his debut in the format back in 2017, the 30-year-old has only played 13 Tests, picking up a total of 56 wickets. Manjrekar added that the Men in Blue would have benefitted a lot if Kuldeep would have been given a chance in the playing XI.
"KL Rahul and Shubman Gill have tried their best to salvage the situation, but a pure batter in the team would have been handy, plus a pure wicket-taker. It has been hard to understand why India look to get players who have two skills rather than just go for quality. Kuldeep Yadav not playing the whole series tells you the approach of this Indian team management. They say that India need 20 wickets, but it's going to be difficult to convince me, because if that was the case, Kuldeep would have played by now," Manjrekar added.
Meanwhile, after falling 311 runs behind England ahead of their second innings, India got off to a dreadful start to say the least as both Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudharsan got dismissed for ducks. However, a brilliant 174-run partnership of KL Rahul (87*) and Shubman Gill (78*) steadied India's ship and helped them in not losing any more wickets for the rest of the day.