India registered a five-wicket defeat against England at Headingley in the first Test of the five-match series. The Men in Blue suffered batting collapses in both of their innings and despite setting up a fighting target of 371 for England during the final session of Day 4, the hosts went on to chase it down rather comfortably on the fifth day and took a 1-0 lead in the series.
Former India cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar was highly critical of the visitors' selected playing XI for the first Test and stated that there is no point in playing four pacers. He added that left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav should be included in the playing XI for the second Test wither either Shardul Thakur or Prasidh Krishna getting dropped.
"Kuldeep needs to be there. There is no point playing with four pacers. Either of Shardul or Prasidh can make way for him," Vengsarkar told PTI.
Manjrekar also wants Kuldeep back in India's playing XI
Another former Indian cricketer who called for Shardul to be dropped and get replaced by Kuldeep is Sanjay Manjrekar. The cricket expert was also against the idea of bringing in all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy into the playing XI as according to him, the balance of the team will get affected due to his inclusion.
"I'm sorry but Shardul Thakur has to go out. I think Kuldeep Yadav has to come back. I’m sorry to say, but That is one change India will have to make," Manjrekar said on JioHotstar.
"As for Nitish Kumar Reddy — I backed him for the first Test purely based on what he did in Australia. It’s an unpopular choice because when he comes in, the balance does get affected a bit. He won’t quite bowl like a fourth seamer, so India needs to take a hard call: even in English conditions, they must go with quality bowlers. If that means playing two spinners, so be it," he added.
"Pick your best bowlers, irrespective of the conditions. You don’t have the luxury of someone like Mohammed Shami available, or the full-strength pace battery, so I’d go one seamer short and bring Kuldeep Yadav into the XI," he further stated.
It will be interesting to see what changes will Gautam Gambhir & Co. make to India's playing XI for the second Test of the England series which is set to be played at Edgbaston from July 2. The Men in Blue will be desperate for a victory so that they can level the series at 1-1, however on the other hand, England will be looking for a second consecutive win in order to further increase the deficit.