IND vs ENG: Sunil Gavaskar bats for Kuldeep Yadav’s inclusion for the 2nd Test

Sunil Gavaskar, the former Indian cricketer, reckons that India should field Kuldeep Yadav in the second Test against England, starting February 13 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Kuldeep hasn’t played a Test for over two years and the fact that he didn’t play the opening Test at the Chepauk despite the hosts going with three spinners raised a lot of eyebrows.

Gavaskar feels that the Indian spin-bowling attack needs a bit of variety and playing both Ravi Ashwin and Washington Sundar may not make a whole lot of sense. The veteran also said that Shahbaz Nadeem had butterflies in his tummy as he bowled nine no-balls in the 59 overs he bowled.

The left-arm spinner picked up four wickets in the game. Moreover, Gavaskar expressed concerns over Ashwin as the latter also bowled a few no-balls. Ashwin, however, was India’s standout bowler as he picked up nine wickets, including a six-wicket haul in the second innings.

Maybe they will bring Kuldeep Yadav: Sunil Gavaskar

“Maybe in the hindsight, they could have included Kuldeep Yadav a bit of variety. Because you have two off-spinners Washington Sundar and Ravichandran Ashwin,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying on Star Sports.

“Maybe they will bring Kuldeep Yadav for the next Test in place of Nadeem or Washington Sundar, whoever it is. But they need to look at dismissing England for lesser than what they scored this around. I think, Shahbaz Nadeem got just a little bit nervous. I’m not even talking about the way he bowls but the no-balls it’s always an indication that the bowler is a little too anxious.

“And particularly spinner anxious to get it going. And when that happens, you tend to overstep. It happened with Ashwin as well. After a long time, he bowled a no-ball. So yes, those are the areas India need to look at,” Gavaskar added.

Sundar, on the other hand, couldn’t pick up a single wicket in 27 overs. But he turned up with an unbeaten 85 with the bat in the first innings, albeit he couldn’t open his account in the second. India lost the opening Test by a mammoth margin of 227 runs.