After India’s dreams of winning a Test series on South African soil for the first time in history were crushed with defeat in the Cape Town Test, a number of changes are expected in the Indian team for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka as Virat Kohli & Co. begin preparation for future assignments.
While a lot of focus is on India’s batting unit which once again failed to deliver the goods, ex-Indian fast-bowler Irfan Pathan has urged the team management to include a wrist-spinner in the team for overseas Test matches as it will give the captain another wicket-taking option to chose from.
Pathan wrote on Twitter, “Indian middle order looks like it will change, Should too. But I strongly believe in having a wrist spinner in overseas condition. Which will have a solid wicket taking option in any condition.”
In recent times, India’s spin-bowling attack has been dominated by left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who are arguably two of India’s greatest-ever in the longest format of the game.
Along with their extraordinary bowling skills, their batting ability has allowed India to field a five-bowler combination regularly in both home and away conditions.
As far as wrist-spinners go, Kuldeep Yadav has been on the periphery for the Indian Test team for a few years but never got a regular run of games.
In 2019, he even managed to take a five-wicket haul against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground and helped India draw the game and clinch their first-ever series victory down-under.
However, since that game, Kuldeep has just featured in one Test match for Kohli’s men which came last year against England at the Chepauk Stadium in Chennai.
In fact, Kuldeep went a full two years without playing a game with the red-ball at the international level. Last year, he was part of India’s visiting team to Australia but had to sit on the bench for all four games despite a massive injury crisis.
Overall, he has played seven Test matches for India and taken 26 wickets in them at an average of 23.84. Recently, he underwent a surgery on his knee and has not played competitive cricket since July.
